IE  0  QUO  18 

PAST  AND  PTiKSKNT 

BY  EI)\\'AR1>  HALF.  />'/,T,s7/ 


Including 

Brief  Sketches  of 
RED  JACKET 
CORNPLANTER  and 
MARY  JEM  I  SON 

I'.Y  I\D}\~ARD  I>T.\1\~<>OI>II<:  s' 


"  When  I  am  gone  and  my 
warnings  are  no  longer  heeded, 
the  craft  and  avarice  of  the 
white  man  will  prevail.  My 
heart  fails  me  when  1  think  of 
my  people,  so  soon  to  be  scat 
tered  and  forgotten." — 

— Red  Jacket. 


A.  L.  BENEDICT,  M.  D., 

Superintendent  of  Ethnology  and  Archaeology, 
Pan- American  Exposition , 

Whose  work  in  behalf  of  study  of  aboriginal  life  entitles 
him  to  the  gratitude  of  those  interested  in  preserving  the 
records  of  the  red  man,  and  especially  the  facts  of  his  his 
tory  upon  the  Niagara  Frontier. 


THE  IROQUOIS  OF  THE  PAST 


BEING  A  GLIMPSE  OF  A  SENECA  VILLAGE  TWO 
CENTURIES  AND  ONE  QUARTER  AGO. 


T  IS  the  year  of  the  Christian  era 
1G78.  The  notes  I  am  about  to 
record  may  never  pass  under  any 
human  eye  but  mine  own,  for 
we  are  about  to  undertake  a 
journey  full  of  hazard  and  mor 
tal  peril,  into  the  country  of  the 
fierce  but  noble  Iroquois.  If 
perchance  they  permit  us  to  return  with  our  lives, 
we  will  give  thanks  to  the  Holy  Virgin  ;  and  for 
my  part  I  will  be  satisfied  with  adventure  in  these 
western  wilds,  and  ready  to  return  to  our  sunny 
land  of  France,  whence  I  sometimes  fancy  I  never 
should  have  strayed. 

Be  it  known  to  any  who  may  read  the  lines  I 
am  about  to  pen,  that  the  bold  and,  I  ofttimes 
think  foolish  band  of  which  I  am  a  member  is 
bearing  company  to  the  adventurous  Robert  Cav- 
elier,  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  whose  thoughts  fly  contin- 


M92101 


•; ;-      •./; ;/; :  ;         6 

.ually  across  the  wild  and  lonely  world  that  stretches 
*  'toward"  the  sunset.  ,  l  The  great  Columbus,  almost 
two  centuries  now  agone,  hoped  by  sailing  from 
Spain  out  into  the  sunset  sea  to  come  to  the  shores 
of  Indo,  with  their  golden  sands,  and  the  Sieur  de 
la  Salle  believes  that  by  journeying  westward  be 
yond  the  awful  cataract  of  Ne-ah-ga-ra,  even  to  the 
far-off  river  flowing  southward,  of  which  the  In 
dians  tell  such  strange  tales,  he  may  come  to  a 
passage  leading  to  the  South  Sea  and  to  China 
and  the  distant  shores  of  India,  which  Columbus 
himself  sought.  Thus  will  the  trade,  the  power 
and  the  prestige  of  New  France  be  increased,  and 
incidentally  the  fame  of  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  will 
be  handed  down  to  future  generations. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  border  of  the  region 
known  to  white  men,  and  are  about  to  pass  on  into 
a  realm  which  but  few  civilized  men  have  entered, 
and  fewer  still  of  these  have  come  out  again  alive. 
A  ship  must  be  built  to  cross  the  great  fresh  water 
sea  lying  to  the  west  of  Xe-ah-ga-ra,  and  the  consent 
of  the  powerful  confederacy  of  the  Iroquois  must 
be  sought  if  the  great  white  canoe  is  to  pass  un 
molested  by  red  men.  The  capital  of  this  con 
federacy  is  the  central  council  fire  of  the  Ononda- 
gas.  The  Onondagas  are  the  fire  keepers  of  the 
league,  which  contains  besides  themselves  the 
Mohawks,  Cayugas,  Oneidas  and  Senecas.  The 


7 

Mohawks  guard  the  eastern  door  of  the  "  Long 
House,"  and  the  Senecas  the  western,  for  by  this 
figure  the  Iroquois  Indian  describes  the  league 
by  which  the  live  nations  are  knitted  together 
and  enabled  to  maintain  their  prowess  over  sur- 
rtfimding  tribes.  Their  "  Long  House  "  extends 
from  the  majestic  Hudson  to  the  blue  waters  of 
the  lake  named  for  the  Erie  nation,  and  from  the 
Catskill  range  to  the  broad  St.  Lawrence,  up  which 
have  come  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  and  his  fellow 
voyageurs  on  their  perilous  journey  westward  to 
unknown  and  perchance  hostile  regions.  The  vast 
territory  between,  the  IIo-d6-no-sau-ne,  or  People 
of  the  "  Long  House/'  the  Cabin-builders,  hold  as 
their  hunting  grounds,  and  here  and  there  in  the 
midst  of  the  forest,  through  which  run  their  nar 
row  but  well  trodden  trails,  one  comes  across  the 
stockaded  villages,  within  which  are  their  bark 
houses,  constructed  after  a  fashion  peculiar  to 
these  strange  and  interesting  people. 

The  brave  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  as  I  have  said,  be 
lieves  it  necessary  to  disarm  the  suspicions  of  these 
far-famed  Iroquois  before  going  further  on  his 
bold  but  important  project  of  building  a  ship  to 
traverse  the  lake  named  after  the  Eries.  The 
Senecas,  who  are  the  westernmost  of  the  Five 
Xations,  have  become  alarmed,  it  is  rumored,  by 
the  preparations  of  the  French  to  build  a  fort  at  the  U? 


mouth  of  the  great  river,  N~e-ah-ga-ra,  and  a  vessel 
above  the  Falls.  For  this  reason  it  is  deemed  ex 
pedient  to  dispatch  a  number  of  the  company,  in 
cluding  the  eloquent  and  learned  priest,  Father 
Hennepin,  to  negotiate  with  these  Senecas,  at 
their  capital,  east  of  the  river  Genesee,  that  they 
may  oppose  no  obstacle  to  the  building  and  launch 
ing  of  the  ship,  which  her  master  has  determined 
to  style  the  Griffon.  It  is  midwinter,  and  a  cheer 
less  journey,  indeed,  it  is  likely  to  prove,  but  nev 
ertheless  it  will  afford  us  an  opportunity  to  see 
and  observe  these  remarkable  people,  who  it  is 
said  by  some  deserve  the  title  of  Romans  of  the 
Western  World. 

The  hardships  of  the  expedition  through  the 
wintry  and  unbroken  forest  were  keen,  but  with 
blankets,  warm  clothing  and  moccasins  for  protec 
tion,  the  dangers  of  the  journey  were  braved,  and 
the  last  day  of  December  found  the  party  at  the 
great  village  of  the  Senecas  which  is  called  Ta-ga- 
ron-di-es,  as  near  as  the  European  characters  can 
spell  the  strange  sounds  of  the  Seneca  tongue. 
On  arrival  at  the  village,  which  was  surrounded 
by  a  stockade,  and  outside  of  which  they  say  in 
the  summer  time  are  fields  of  corn  and  beans  and 
squashes  and  tobacco,  we  were  received  with  much 
consideration,  and  conducted  to  the  bark  house  or 


9 

cabin  of  one  who  appeared  to  be  the  principal 
chief,  though  it  is  said  there  is  none  who  corres 
ponds  to  king  or  governor  of  the  whole  tribe. 
The  young  men  bathed  our  travel-worn  feet, 
and  anointed  them  with  bear's  oil.  The  squaws 
brought  us  roasted  dog  and  frogs  pounded  up 
with  a  porridge  of  Indian  corn,  carrying  their 
infants  over  their  shoulders  in  the  Ga-ose-ha,  as 
they  call  it,  a  sort  of  baby  frame.  They  regarded 
the  whole  party  with  much  curiosity,  though  in 
deed  'tis  fair  to  say,  with  scarcely  more  than  we 
showed  ourselves  concerning  them.  The  next  day, 
being  the  first  of  the  year,  Father  Hennepin,  who 
had  brought  with  him  his  portable  altar,  and  wore 
his  coarse  gray  capote,  with  the  cord  of  St.  Francis 
about  his  waist,  and  carrying  rosary  and  crucifix, 
celebrated  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass  and 
preached  the  mysteries  of  the  faith  to  the  mixed 
assembly  of  French  and  Indians.  Despite  our 
firm  adherence  to  Christian  doctrines,  I  much 
mistake  if  we  would  not  rather  have  seen  the  Iro- 
quois  perform  their  devotions  to  Ha-wen-nu-yu, 
and  offer  their  thanksgivings  in  those  strange 
dances,  accompanied  by  weird  barbaric  songs, 
which  are  their  methods  of  worshipping  the  Good 
Creator.  But  these  ceremonies  occur  only,  we 
were  told,  at  certain  seasons,  and  the  most  inter 
esting  and  significant  rites  are  not  for  the  curious 


10 

gaze  of  the  pale  face.  After  the  good  Hennepin 
had  concluded  his  services,  the  grand  council  wan 
convened.  It  was  composed  of  forty-two  of  the 
elder  men  of  the  Senecas.  Their  tall  forms  were 
completely  enveloped  in  robes  made  from  the  skins 
of  the  beaver,  wolf  and  black  squirrel.  With 
calumet  in  their  mouths,  these  grave  councilors 
took  their  seats  on  their  mats  with  all  the  stateli- 
ness  and  dignity  of  Venetian  senators. 

I  will  not  dwell  at  this  time  on  the  speeches 
which  were  delivered  on  both  sides,  and  with  much 
show  of  friendship  and  consideration.  With  an 
other  of  the  company,  I  slipped  out  of  the  council 
house  to  make  an  inspection  of  the  village.  The 
stockade  enclosed  a  small  town  of  perhaps  150 
houses  or  cabins,  some  of  which  were  of  consider 
able  dimensions,  and  we  were  told  housed  some 
times  as  many  as  five  to  ten  different  families. 
These  lived,  not  all  in  one  room,  but  in  different 
compartments,  so  to  speak,  of  the  same  building. 
In  general,  the  appearance  of  the  village,  which 
they  tell  us,  is  typical  of  the  Iroquois  communi 
ties — showed  these  Indians  to  be  much  in  advance 
of  other  tribes  whom  it  has  been  my  fortune — or 
misfortune — to  meet.  To  protect  their  villages 
from  sudden  assault,  they  usually  run  trenches 
about  them,  throw  up  the  ground  upon  the  inside 


^*i 


13 

and  set  a  continuous  row  of  stakes  or  palisades  in 
this  bank  of  earth,  fixing  them  so  that  they  in 
cline  over  the  trench.  Outside  the  stockade  is 
their  cultivated  land,  sometimes  sub-divided  into 
planting  lots  assigned  to  different  families.  The 
practice  of  putting  stockades  about  the  villages, 
we  were  told,,  used  to  be  well  nigh  universal 
among  the  Five  Nations,  but  since  their  power 
over  other  tribes  has  been  generally  acknowledged, 
the  necessity  for  it  has  somewhat  disappeared. 
The  Gii'-no-so-te  or  bark  house  of  the  Iroquois  is  a 
comfortable  dwelling  as  compared  with  the  make 
shift  structures  in  which  our  party  have  been  often 
forced  to  sojourn  since  reaching  these  unexplored 
wilds.  Some  of  these  (l  long  houses"  of  bark  and 
poles  are  from  50  to  100  feet  in  length,  and  about 
16  in  width,  and  have  partitions  at  intervals  of  10 
or  12  feet.  There  are  sometimes  as  many  as  ten 
or  a  dozen  fires  in  one  of  these  houses,  two  families 
commonly  using  one  fire,  and  the  smoke  escaping 
through  a  hole  in  the  roof  without  the  aid  of  a 
chimney.  The  height  of  the  average  Ga'-no-so-te 
is  from  15  to  20  feet.  In  constructing  the  house 
they  set  up  a  frame-work  of  poles  and  cover  this  with 
boards  and  .bark  held  together  by  .splints  and  fast 
enings  of  bark  rope.  One  feature  of  the  baik 
house,  always  the  same,  is  the  manner  of  en 
trance.  There  are  not  doors  upon  all  sides,  but 


14 

always  two,  one  at  each  end.  Over  one  door  is  cut 
the  tribal  totem  or  family  device,  as  our  nobles  in 
Europe  put  over  the  entrances  to  their  castles  their 
heraldic  inscriptions  and  coats  of  arms.  Indeed,  I 
have  somewhere  read  that  this  very  system  of  her 
aldry,  which  elaborates  distinctions  in  rank  between 
our  peoples  in  Europe,  traces  its  origin  back  to  a 
time  when  our  ancestors  were  themselves  a  primi 
tive  people,  having  their  gentes  and  their  totems, 
much  as  now  do  these  red  men  of  the  new  world. 

We  found  in  these  cabins  of  the  Senecas  a  some 
what  home-like  aspect,  despite  the  difference  be 
tween  their  methods  of  living  and  ours,  that 
touched  a  chord  of  sympathy  and  awakened  a  feel 
ing  that  perchance  their  homes  were  as  dear  to 
them  in  their  way  as  ours  beyond  the  sea,  where  our 
kin  are  now  wondering  what  ill  fortune  may  have 
befallen  us  in  our  wanderings  in  a  distant  clime. 
From  the  rafters  of  the  Ga'-no-so-te  hung  the  curi 
ous  implements,  relics  and  ornaments  which  me- 
thinks  must  be  the  lares  and  penates  of  this  red- 
skinned  people.  There  were  tomahawks  of  strange 
and  peculiar  workmanship,  quivers  full  of  arrows, 
and  bows  painted  in  ingenious  fashion,  headdresses 
of  eagle's  feathers,  garments  of  various  sorts  from 
the  skins  and  fur  of  animals,  while  in  addition  to 
such  articles  of  apparel  or  ornament  there  hung 
also  from  the  roof  great  clusters  of  corn  and  such 


15 

other  fruits  of  the  ground  as  the  Indian  raises  in 
summer  and  preserves  for  use  during  the  months 
of  winter.  A  sight  that  interested  us  much 
also  was  that  of  the  squaws  pounding  up  the  corn 
into  meal  in  stone  mortars  by  means  of  a  pounder, 
thick  and  heavy  at  each  end  and  narrow  in  the 
middle.  The  crushed  grain  they  make  into  cakes, 
and  boil  until  it  becomes  hard,  when  it  makes  a 
bread  that  may  be  carried  upon  a  long  campaign. 

But  we  were  not  permitted  long  to  pursue  our 
inspection  of  the  cabins,  for  our  presence  at  the 
council  was  required.  The  Sieur  de  la  Motte  had 
finished  the  speech  in  which  he  sought  approval 
from  the  Senecas  of  the  enterprise  of  the  Sieur  de  la 
Salle,  telling  them  that  its  object  was  to  bring 
merchandise  from  Europe  by  a  more  convenient 
route  than  the  St.  Lawrence.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  speech  a  present  to  the  chiefs  was  made  con 
sisting  of  400  pounds  weight  of  hatchets,  knives, 
coats  and  a  large  necklace  of  blue  shells.  The 
value  of  the  whole  was  not  great,  as  we  Europeans 
measure  the  value  of  such  articles,  but  to  the  un 
tutored  red  men  it  doubtless  seemed  of  large  ac 
count  and  worth  much  in  exchange  in  the  way  of 
the  privileges  of  trade.  Thus  do  the  white  Chris 
tians,  I  am  loath  to  relate,  take  advantage  of  the 
ignorance  of  the  pagan  Indian.  La  Motte  also 
promised,  for  the  convenience  of  the  Seneca  nation, 


16 

a  gunsmith  and  blacksmith  to  reside  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Niagara,  for  the  purpose  of  mending  their 
guns  and  hatchets.  If  the  red  man  goes  on  at  this 
rate,  adopting  the  improvements  of  his  white 
brother  in  the  way  of  warlike  weapons,  the  supple 
arm  of  the  brave  will  soon  grow  awkward  in  the 
making  of  the  stone  tomahawk  and  the  handling 
of  the  bow  and  arrow.  Other  presents  added  by 
the  French  to  those  enumerated  in  order  to  clinch 
their  arguments,  so  to  speak,  were  several  coats  and 
pieces  of  fine  cloth,  and  to  me  there  was  something 
ludicrous,  withal,  in  the  idea  of  these  children  of 
the  forest  garbing  themselves  as  our  fine  lords  and 
ladies  do  in  the  Court  of  His  Most  Gracious 
Majesty,  King  Louis  XIV.  Yet,  I  doubt  not,  the 
skins  and  furs  which,  after  their  own  kind,  become 
them  so  well,  will  in  time  give  place  to  homespun 
-and  velvet,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  who  shall  say 
but  you  will  one  day  see  squaws  admiring  them 
selves  before  their  mirrors  in  the  bonnets  of  a  Paris 
milliner. 

And  this  reminds  me  that  I  have  a  friend  among 
the  feminine  population  of  this  village,  Gah-ne- 
ga-des-ta  by  name,  which  as  near  as  I  can  make  it 
out  means  "  Shallow  Water."  She  is  a  bright 
maiden,  and  helped  me  much  in  understanding  the 
queer  ways  of  this  community,  for  she  has  picked  up 
from  the  Jesuits  and  the  Sulpitians  a  smattering  of 


O    - 


19 

French.  I  trust  the  fair  damoselle  to  whom  I 
plighted  my  troth  before  leaving  la  belle  France 
would  feel  no  jealous  pangs  because  of  her  atten 
tions.  The  first  night  of  our  stay  at  Ta-ga-ron-dies 
we  slept  the  sleep  of  the  just,  and  rested  more 
comfortably  than  in  many  a  long  day  before. 
Along  the  sides  of  these  bark  houses  run  seats 
which  can  be  used  to  lounge  upon  in  the  day  time 
or  sleep  upon  at  night,  much  as  one  might  use  the 
bunks  in  a  ship's  cabin.  Here  we  slept,  wrapped 
up  in  our  blankets  and  furs,  and  for  my  part,  ex 
cept  for  the  unwonted  smoke  and  the  absence  of 
motion,  I  would  have  thought  myself  aboard  ship 
and  crossing  the  Atlantic. 

The  second  day  of  our  stay  was  occupied  by  the 
Senecas  in  replying  to  the  speech  of  the  Sieur  de 
la  Motte,  and  they  in  their  turn  made  their  pres 
ents  to  us.  Evidently,  as  aids  to  their  memory, 
they  used  small  wooden  sticks,  which  the  speaker 
took  up  as  he  replied  seriatim  to  the  several  points. 
The  ceremonies  were  ratified,  so  to  speak,  by  the 
presentation  of  belts  of  wampum  made  of  small 
shells,  strung  on  fine  sinews,  and  whose  use  they 
regard  as  necessary  for  the  sealing  of  a  contract,  in 
the  same  manner  as  we  affix  a  stamp  or  seal  to  an 
official  signature.  Their  treaties  are  ratified  and 
confirmed  in  this  way.  The  wampum  belts  have 
a  significance  which  can  be  explained,  by  those 


20 

versed  in  the  history  of  the  nations,  and  the  keep 
ers  of  the  wampum  are  supposed  to  train  their 
memory  to  recall  the  facts  of  the  history  of  their 
nation  or  league  through  the  arrangement  of  the 
beads  of  the  wampum  belts. 

The  speeches  made  by  the  Indians  occupied  a 
long  time  in  delivery,  for  with  the  red  man  time 
seems  to  be  of  no  consequence  whatsoever.  I  am 
not  sure  that  our  arguments  much  impressed  them, 
but  at  any  rate  the  council  broke  up  in  good  feel 
ing,  as  was  evidenced  by  the  entertainment  with 
which  they  provided  us  at  its  close.  This  was  no 
less  a  performance  than  the  torturing  to  death  of 
a  hapless  young  prisoner  of  war,  who  had  been 
captured  near  the  borders  of  Virginia.  I  will  spare 
the  reader  the  pain  of  a  recital  of  the  details  of 
this  torture.  But  for  this  incident  I  had  borne 
away  a  most  complimentary  opinion  of  the  char 
acter  of  our  hosts.  Yet  it  merely  teaches  us, 
despite  the  excellence  in  many  respects  of  their 
moral  attributes,  and  their  belief  in  Ha-wen-ne-yu, 
these  children  of  the  forest  should  have  the  cruelty 
in  their  natures  subdued  by  contact  with  the  teach 
ings  of  the  loving  Christ,  and  so  I  say,  speed  on 
the  messengers  of  the  cross,  and  may  God  in  His 
wisdom  prosper  their  glorious  mission. 


PAN-AMERICAN  EXPOSITION. 

THE  IROQUOIS  OF  THE  PRESENT. 

The  condition  of  the  Iroquois  Indians  on  the 
reservations  in  New  York  State  and  Canada  at  the 
present  day  should  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  their 
history.  It  is  unfair  to  them  to  compare  their  de 
gree  of  civilization  with  that  of  their  neighbors 
of  white  blood,  without  reference  to  that  history. 
The  differences  in  race  characteristics,  and  in 
standards  of  morality  and  belief,,  should  be  taken 
into  consideration  in  forming  an  estimate  as  to  the 


22 

progress  any  particular  people  have  made  relatively 
to  some  other  people.  It  is  said  of  the  Chinese 
that  in  order  to  understand  them  we  must  remem 
ber  that  their  point  of  view,  literally  and  figura 
tively,  is  diametrically  opposite  our  own.  A  prin 
ciple  somewhat  the  same  applies  in  the  case  of  the 
red  man.  In  respect  to  the  Iroquois,  their  condi 
tion  for  centuries  past  as  a  people  living  in  the  hunt 
er  state,  though  in  many  respects  possessing  some 
degree  of  civilization,  should  be  borne  in  mind  if 
a  right  judgment  concerning  them  and  their  con 
dition  to-day  is  to  be  reached. 

The  origin  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country 
preceding  the  white  race  is  wrapped  in  impenetra 
ble  mystery,  and  we  must  leave  it  to  the  most 
learned  of  archaeologists  and  students  of  ethnolo 
gy  to  continue  their  dispute  as  to  whether  the  red 
man  is  a  native  product  of  the  continent  or  an 
importation  from  what,  more  or  less  paradoxically, 
we  call  the  Old  World.  It  is  sufficient  for  the 
purpose  that  he  has  been  here  in  this  Western 
World  for  many  cycles  of  time,  as  the  monuments 
he  has  left  attest,  and  for  reasons  which  no  doubt 
an  all-wise  Providence  understands,  the  conditions 
affecting  his  advancement  were  not,  during  this 
period,  so  favorable  as  they  were  for  the  progress 
of  the  white  races  upon  the  Eastern  Continent. 
At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Continent  by 


23 

the  white  race,  the  Five  Nations  then  composing 
the  Ho-tl6-no-sau-nee  occupied  a  strong  position 
among  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  North  America, 
and  during  the  two  succeeding  centuries  they  made 
themselves  virtually  the  rulers  of  the  north  eastern 
portion  of  what  is  now  the  United  States  and  low 
er  Canada.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  advance  of 
white  civilization  and  the  conquest  of  the  "forest 
statesmen  "  by  the  European  settlers  and  pioneers, 
it  is  fair  to  presume  that  with  the  wonderful 
strength  the  Iroquois  League  possessed,  a  strength 
that  has  held  its  members  together  during  three 
centuries  of  change  and  decay  even  to  the  present 
time,  they  would  have  gone  on  upward  toward  a 
condition  approaching  civilization.  That,  of  course, 
is  a  subject  upon  which  we  can  only  speculate  ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  at  the  era  of  their  greatest 
prestige  they  constituted  the  most  powerful  Indian 
Empire — if  such  their  league  could  be  termed — 
north  of  the  Empire  of  the  Aztecs  ;  and  their 
confederacy  and  its  institutions  were  well  calcu 
lated  to  develop  all  the  latent  powers  of  the  race, 
and  bring  to  their  fruition  the  best  qualities  pos-  . 
sessed  by  this  remarkable  people.  The  League  of 
the  Iroquois  was  indeed  a  most  unique  and  extra 
ordinary  institution  in  its  cohesive  powers  and  its 
capacity  to  hold  together  in  bonds  of  frater 
nity  and  equality  and  ties  of  kinship,  people  of 


24 


CENTURY  OLD  CABIN  OF  NANCY  JOHNSON,   TONAWANDA 
RESERVATION,  EXHIBITED  AT  Six  NATIONS'  VILLAGE. 

originally  different  tribes  or  nations.  It  is  no 
wonder  some  of  the  Iroquois  legends  attributed 
their  origin  to  a  being  of  more  or  less  divine  origin 
who  is  known  as  Hiawatha,  or  that  Ha-wen-n6-yu 
was  believed  to  have  made  its  progress  and  devel 
opment  the  especial  object  of  His  care. 

As  to  the  character  of  the  people  of  the  Six 
Nations,  both  now  and  in  the  times  of  which  the 
history  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  Canada  and 
the  Niagara  Frontier  has  so  much  to  say,  of  course, 
the  opinions  of  individuals  will  differ.  One  per 
son  will  see  in  a  typical  member  of  the  race  at  the 
present  time  much  more  to  admire  than  another, 


EDWARD  CORNPLANTER,  SENECA  INDIAN,  CATTARAUQUS  EESERVATION. 


27 

according  to  the  respective  point  of  view.  It  can 
not  be  questioned  that  the  moral  endowments  of 
the  Iroquois  were  of  a  high  order,  and  indeed  are 
so  to-day,  despite  the  eifects  of  "fire  water"  and 
other  things  which  the  Indian  has  adopted  from 
the  white  man's  civilization.  A  well-known  his 
torian  has  told  us  that  "  Xowhere  in  a  long 
career  of  discovery,  of  enterprise  and  extension 
of  Empire,  have  Europeans  found  natives  of 
the  soil  with  as  many  of  the  attributes  of  human 
ity,  moral  and  physical  elements,  which,  if  they 
could  not  have  been  blended  with  ours,  could  have 
maintained  a  separate  existence  and  been  fostered 
by  the  proximity  of  civilization  and  the  arts. 
Everywhere,  when  first  approached  by  our  race, 
they  welcomed  us  and  made  demonstrations  of 
friendship  and  peace.  Savage,  as  they  have  been 
called,  savage  as  they  may  have  been  in  their  assaults 
and  wars  upon  each  other,  there  is  no  act  of  theirs 
recorded  in  the  history  of  our  early  settlements  and 
of  the  Xew  World,  of  wrong  or  outrage,  that  was  not 
provoked  by  assault,  treachery  or  deception-breach 
es  of  the  hospitality  which  they  had  extended  to 
us  as  strangers  in  a  bare  and  foreign  land  What 
ever  of  savage  character  they  may  have  possessed, 
so  far  as  our  race  was  concerned,  it  was  dormant 
until  aroused  to  action  by  assault  or  treachery  of 


N     28 

intruders  upon  their  soil 
whom  they  had  met  and 
treated  as  friends." 

It  is  unfair  to  judge  of 
the  character  of  any  race 
by   isolated  and  perhaps 
unrepresentative   speci 
mens;    nor  is  it  fair   to 
judge    from    the    condi 
tions  to-day  of  their  de- 
A  SENECA  GREAT-GRANDMOTHER  AND  HER  SCendants,    of     what    the 
GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER  Iroquois   were    200    years 

ago,  when  by  courage  and 

force  of  character  and  the  bond  of  union  between 
the  Five  Nations  of  the  League,  they  had  estab 
lished  their  supremacy  over  all  surrounding  tribes. 
The  Iroquois  were  a  fighting  people  and  a  people 
who  loved  the  forest  and  the  hunter  state.  With 
the  opportunity  removed  for  war  and  the  hardi 
hood  and  endurance  which  its  exposure  and  ad 
venture  involved,  and  with  the  forests  which  they 
roamed  and  through  which  they  hunted  the  deer 
and  the  elk,  laid  low  by  the  ax  of  the  white 
man,  it  is  little  wonder  that  their  character  has 
perhaps  lost  some  of  the  vigor  it  once  possessed. 
A  century  of  perpetual  peace,  so  far  as  the  relations 
of  the  Iroquois  Indians  among  themselves  and  with 
the  whites  is  concerned,  has  given  little  chance  for 


MOSES  SHONGO,   SENECA.    CATTARAUGUS  RESERVATION, 

DESCENDANT  OF  CAPT.  SHONGO,  OF  REVOLUTIONARY 

FAME.     AN  ACCOMPLISHED  MUSICIAN,   AND 

FOR  MANY  YEARS  U.   S.    BANDMASTER 


30 

the  development  among  the  later  generations  of 
that  physical  courage  for  which  their  forefathers 
in  the  days  of  the  bark  houses  and  the  bow  and 
arrow  were  famous.  Yet  the  war  for  the  Union, 
and  later  the  Spanish- American  war,  showed  that 
the  Iroquois  brave  was  still  a  true  warrior.  lie 
fought  then  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  apparently 
with  as  much  love  for  that  ensign  as  his  ancestor 
in  the  time  of  La  Salle  fought  for  the  honor  of  his 
tribal  totem  or  the  glory  of  the  League  which  had 
"  one  camp  fire,  one  pipe,  one  war  club." 

The  Seneca,  or  the  Onondaga,  or  the  Cayuga 
upon  the  reservations  of  New  York  State  or  Can 
ada  to-day,  is  of  much  the  same  athletic  build, 
much  the  same  stolid,  uncomplaining  temperament, 
and  has  much  the  same  capacity  for  endurance  of 
hardship  as  one  fancies  must  have  been  the  case 
with  his  forefathers  in  days  of  old.  The  fondness 
for  out-door  sports  survives,  though  the  farm  lands 
and  commons  of  the  reservations  give  compara 
tively  little  chance  for  hunting  game,  as  the  elders 
were  wont  to  do.  At  the  festivals,  occurring  at 
frequent  and  regular  intervals  during  the  year, 
these  sports  occupy  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  pro 
gram,  and  that  the  young  bucks  of  to-day  possess 
much  of  the  same  dexterity  and  suppleness  so  char 
acteristic  of  the  Indian  of  the  past  no  one  can 
deny  who  has  seen  the  snow  snake,  for  instance, 


31 

thrown  hundreds  of  feet  during  the  games  of  the 
mid- winter  festival  or  New  Year's  dance. 

But  in  considering  the  conditions  of  life  and 
standards  of  character  among  the  Iroquois  upon 
the  reservations  to-day,  one  must  remember  that 
the  white  man's  test  of  character  and  success  is 
very  different  from  the  red  man's.  The  white 
man  is  very  apt  to  apply  the  test  of  wealth.  This 
the  Indian  has  never  been  accustomed  to  do.  In 
the  olden  days,  the  greatest  chiefs  were  often  the 
poorest  men,  and  to-day  upon  the  reservations  one 
finds  that  the  most  influential  men,  and  those  most 
respected  and  heeded  in  the  councils  of  the  nation, 
may  have  little  of  those  things  which,  among  the 
whites,  would  be  requisite  to  "standing"  in  the 
community,  or  which  would  secure  them  election, 
for  instance,  to  the  clubs  composed  of  "leading 
citizens." 

When  one  considers  that  the  Senecas  and  Mo 
hawks,  the  Onondagas  and  Cayugas,  the  Oneidas 
and  Tuscaroras,  but  a  century  or  two  ago  roamed 
over  all  the  lands  where  now  stand  the  prosperous 
cities  and  villages  of  Central  and  Western  New 
York  and  Lower  Canada,  it  seems  strange  that 
the  present  inhabitants  of  this  territory  know  and 
apparently  care  so  little  about  the  people  who  were 
formerly  its  owners.  Very  strange  ideas  prevail 
about  these  Iroquois  Indians  among  the  average 


32 


HOUSE  AND  FAMILY  OF  EDWARD  CORNPLANTER, 
SENECA,  CATTARAUGUS  RESERVATION. 

whites,  who,  though  living  so  near  them,  have 
never  been  upon  the  reservations.  Many  suppose 
them  to  be  rather  dangerous  places  into  which  to 
venture,  places  where  one's  scalp  is  scarcely  safe, 
little  realizing  that  the  Iroquois  of  those  peaceful 
communities  are  law  abiding  and  generally  well 
behaved,  and  that  murders  and  heinous  crimes  are 
less  frequent  among  them  than  in  many  white 
communities  of  corresponding  population. 

The  report  of  the  United  States  Interior  Depart 
ment  for  1890  says,  as  to  the  reservations  of  New 


33 

York  State  :  "  No  felonies  were  reported  during 
the  year,  and  but  few  trivial  offenses,  except  intox 
ication.  The  number  of  Indians  in  jail  or  prison 
for  offenses  against  persons  or  property  during  the 
year  in  an  Indian  population  of  5,133  was  as  fol 
lows  :  Onondaga,  1;  Cattaraugus,  9;  Tuscarora, 
3;  St.  Regis,  3;  total,  1C."  The  same  report  says  : 
"They  are  self-sustaining,  and  much  farther  ad 
vanced  in  civilization  than  any  other  reservation 
Indians  in  the  United  States,  and  as  much  as  an 
average  number  of  white  people  in  many  locali 
ties.  They  have  borne  the  burden  of  peace  with 
equanimity,  and  met  the  demands  of  the  war  for 
the  Union  with  patriotism  and  vigor.  The  Six 
Nations  have  been  charged  with  being  pagans, 
heathens,  and  bad  citizens  generally,  but  investi 
gation  shows  the  latter  charge  to  be  false.  In  the 
matter  of  creed,  among  the  Tuscaroras  there  is 
not  a  pagan  family,  recognized  as  such ;  among 
the  Tonawandas  and  Onondagas  very  nearly  two- 
thirds  belong  to  the  pagan  party.  Of  the  Cattar 
augus  and  Allegany  Senecas,  a  majority  belong  to 
the  pagan  party,  but  of  the  Cornplanter  Senecas 
and  St.  Regis  Indians,  none  are  pagans.  On  all 
the  reservations  crimes  are  few,  stealing  is  rare, 
and  quarreling,  resulting  in  personal  assault,  in 
frequent/' 


LOG  CABIN,  TONA  WANDA  EESERVATION. 

Unfortunately  for  the  Indian  in  general,  as  well 
as  the  Iroquois  in  particular,  the  impression  has 
been  received  that  his  great  business  is  scalping 
people,  and  that  when  he  is  not  drunk  he  is  on  the 
war  path.  Needless  to  say,  both  of  these  impres 
sions  are  utterly  unjust,  at  least  so  far  as  the  Iro 
quois  Indian  is  concerned.  There  exists  among 
the  Iroquois  a  society  known  as  the  Six  Nations 
Temperance  League  or  Society,  which  originated, 
so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  among  the  Indians 
themselves,  and  has  been  in  active  operation  for 
more  than  60  years.  It  has  yearly  meetings  or 
conventions,  which  are  well  attended.  The  Iro 
quois  reformer  of  a  century  ago,  Handsome  Lake, 


35 

or  Ga-ne-o-di-o,  taught  the  Iroquois  especially  to 
avoid  drunkenness.  Although  it  is  doubtless  true 
that  a  fondness  for  "fire  water "  is  a  peculiar 
failing  among  the  Six  Nations  Indians,  as  well  as 
among  their  brothers  of  the  Western  plains,  there 
are  many  whose  soberness  is  habitual,  and  who  are 
never  seen  under  the  influence  of  liquor. 

The  prominence  given  in  the  history  of  the  col 
onization  of  this  country  to  the  war-like  opera 
tions  of  the  red  man  has  over  emphasized  the 
cruel  and  bloody  instincts  possessed  by  the  Indians 
of  those  days.  Among  the  Iroquois  there  was 
quite  another  side  than  that  presented  in  this  way, 
and  their  home  and  community  life  in  the  stock 
ades  within  which  their  bark  houses  were  erected 
was  well  worthy  of  study. 

The  Iroquois  villages  upon  the  reservations  to 
day  are  quite  different  in  appearance  from  the  Iro 
quois  villages  within  the  stockades  which  the  pio 
neers  found  in  Central  and  Western  New  York. 
The  bark  house  (Ga-no-so-te)  long  since  disap 
peared,  and  its  immediate  successor,  the  log  cabin,  is 
now  disappearing  before  the  advance  of  the  frame 
house  with  its  up-to-date  arrangements  and  con 
venience?.  But  though  one  sees  no  totem  as  of  old 
upon  entering  an  Iroquois  village  of  to-day,  and 
though  he  looks  in  vain  for  the  scalp  pole  or  the 
sweat  lodge,  yet  it  does  not  take  long  to  find  that 


36 


LONG  HOUSE,  ONONDAGA  RESERVATION. 

many  of  those  customs  which  the  Iroquois  have  so 
long  cherished  remain.  The  "Long-House/'  or 
Council  House,  usually  near  the  center  of  the 
"  pagan  "  portion  of  the  settlement,  is  the  home 
of  the  ancient  usages.  There  is  no  well  defined 
division  upon  the  reservations  between  pagans  and 
Christians,  but  usually  the  Christians  are  found 
mostly  in  one  portion  and  the  pagans  in  another. 

Many  persons  have  imagined  that  upon  the  res 
ervations  in  New  York  State  they  would  find  the 
Indians  living  in  wigwams.  In  the  first  place,  the 
old  time  Iroquois  did  not  live  in  wigwams,  being 
known  as  ko-no-shi-o-ni,  or  cabin  builders,  and 


WHERE  HANDSOME  LAKE,  GA-NE-O-DI-YO,  is  BURIED, 
ONONDAGA  RESERVATION. 


having  generally  built  their  houses  in  oblong  fash 
ion  of  bark  and  poles.  The  transition  from  the 
bark  house  to  the  log  cabin  was  not  so  radical  a 
change  as  though  it  had  been  a  change  from  the 
wigwam.  Both  the  ancient  period  of  the  stockade 
with  the  bark  houses  and  the  totems,  and  the  more 
modern  period  of  log  cabins  are  portrayed  in  the 
exhibit  of  the  Six  Nations  at  the  Pan-American 
Exposition. 

As  typical  of  the  reservations  of  New  York  State, 
it  may  be  of  interest  to  give  a  brief  description  of 
that  of  the  Onondagas.  It  is  but  fitting,  in  any 


38 

event,  that  honors  should  first  be  paid  to  the  On- 
ondagas,  for  in  the  old  days  they  were  the  "  fire 
keepers,"  and  their  council  fire  was  in  a  degree  the 
capital  of  the  confederacy.  To  be  an  Onondaga 
was  considered  the  highest  honor,  and  though  ex 
ercising  no  greater  authority  than  members  of 
other  nations,  they  received  a  certain  amount  of 
deference  from  the  latter  which  was  not  allowed  to 
all  members  of  the  league.  At  the  present  day  the 
Iroquois  village  on  the  Onondaga  reservation  pre 
sents  much  the  appearance  of  an  ordinary  farming 
settlement.  It  has  certain  aspects,  however,  which 
distinguish  it  even  in  outward  appearance  from  a 
white  community.  These  are  perhaps  most  notice 
able  about  the  "Long  House,"  or  "Council  House" 
of  the  pagan  Onondagas,  which  stands  upon  a 
slight  eminence  in  the  center  of  a  commons. 
Nearby  is  the  old  council  house  (still  used  at  cer 
tain  periods  for  that  purpose),  which  must  be 
nearly  a  century  old  and  was  the  home  of  the 
pagan  Iroquois  rites  when  the  prophet  of  the  "  new 
religion,"  Handsome  Lake,  died.  He  was  buried 
beneath  the  floor  of  the  old  council  house,  but  the 
latter  was  afterward  moved  a  short  distance  away, 
so  that  the  grave  of  the  prophet  is  now  said  to  be 
in  the  door-yard  of  William  Isaacs,  Middle  of  the 
Sky,  and  is  unmarked  by  any  monument.  A  move 
ment  which  had  for  its  object  the  erection  of  a 


OLD  AND  NEW  LONG  HOUSES,  ONONDAGA  KESERVATION, 
AND  HOUSE  OF  WILLIAM  ISAACS. 

monument  was  started  a  few  years  ago,  but  came 
to  nothing.  Xear  the  Council  House  is  the  cemetery, 
which  is  not  especially  noticeable  for  unusual  ap 
pearance.  A  short  distance  farther  on  is  a  pretty 
Episcopal  Church  and  mission  house.  The  ser 
vices  at  this  chapel  are  well  attended  and  there  is 
a  choir  of  vested  singers,  who  render  the  ritual  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  a  devout  and  musical 
manner.  The  Methodists  have  also  an  attractive 
place  of  worship.  Many  of  the  dwellings  are  frame 
houses,  well  painted,  with  fairly  well-kept  grounds 
surrounding.  As  illustrating  the  home  life  of  the 
Indians  of  this  reservation,  it  may  be  noted  that 


40 


1 


CHURCH  AND  MISSION  HOUSE  OF  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD, 
ONONDAGA  EESERVATION. 


the  furniture  of  these  homes  includes  ten  organs 
and  one  piano. 

The  reservations  in  New  York  State  occupied  by 
Iroquois  Indians  are  the  Onondaga  reservation, 
near  Syracuse ;  the  Cattaraugus  reservation,  in 
Cattaraugus,  Ohautauqua  and  Erie  counties,  about 
30  miles  from  Buffalo;  the  Tonawanda  reservation, 
about  twenty-five  miles  from  that  city  ;  the  Alle- 


41 

gany  reservation  on  the  Pennsylvania  border  near 
Salamanca  ;  the  Tuscarora  reservation,  near  Lewis- 
ton,  in  Niagara  county,  and  the  St.  Regis  reserva 
tion  on  the  St.  Lawrence  river.  There  is  also  a 
small  community  of  the  Iroquois  in  Warren  coun 
ty,  Pennsylvania,  which  contains  a  population  of 
about  100,  and  is  known  as  the  Cornplanter  reserva 
tion.  The  total  acreage  of  the  reservations  of  the 
Six  Nations  in  New  York  State  is  37,327.73.  with 
an  Indian  population  of  about  5,500.  The  land  value 
of  these  reservations  is  estimated  at  about  §2,000,- 
000.  The  law  and  the  facts  show  that  the  reserva 
tions  of  the  Six  Nations  of  New  York  are  each  in 
dependent,  and,  in  some  particulars,  as  much  sov 
ereignties,  by  treaty  and  obligation,  as  are  the 
several  States  of  the  United  States.  The  St.  Regis 
reservation,  however,  differs  somewhat  in  this  re 
spect  from  the  others.  The  members  of  the  Six 
Nations  of  New  York  residing  on  reservations  or 
living  in  tribal  relations  do  not  vote  at  county  or 
State  elections,  nor  do  they  pay  taxes  to  the  county 
or  the  State.  They  are,  therefore,  Indians  not  taxed. 
With  the  exception  of  the  St.  Regis  Indians  they 
are  amenable  to  National  and  State  courts  and 
laws  only  in  respect  to  certain  crimes.  Ordinarily, 
order  is  maintained  and  offenses  are  punished 
through  courts  and  officers  constituted  by  the  In 
dians  themselves.  The  Senecas,  for  instance,  have 


42 

their  peace-maker  courts,  peace- makers  being 
elected  for  each  reservation,  and  the  term  of  office 
being  three  years.  The  Seneca  Nation  also  has 
its  president,  treasurer,  and  other  officers.  The 
League  of  the  Iroquois  in  the  United  States  has  a 
chairman  who  corresponds  to  the  To-do  da-ho  of 
ancient  times,  a  clerk  and  a  keeper  of  the  wam 
pum. 

The  Six  Nations  Indians  of  the  Grand  River 
reserve  in  Canada  occupy  a  tract  situated  in  the 
township  of  Tuscarora  and  part  of  the  township 
of  Onondaga,  in  the  county  of  Brant,  and  in 
the  township  of  Oneida,  in  the  county  of  Hal- 
dimand,  Province  of  Ontario.  The  reservation 
contains,  in  all,  about  43,696  acres.  The  Iroquois 
of  this  reservation  migrated  into  Canada  at  the 
close  of  the  war  of  Independence.  They  were 
located  by  a  grant  made  by  Sir  Frederick  Haldi- 
mand,  Oct.  25,  1793,  on  a  tract  stretching  along 
the  banks  of  the  Ouse,  or  Grand  River,  and  ex 
tending  six  miles  deep  on  either  side  of  the  stream, 
which  was  originally  purchased  for  them  from  the 
Mississangos.  The  grant  was  confirmed  by  Let 
ters  Patent  under  the  Great  Seal,  April  1,  1793, 
by  Governor  Simcoe.  The  reserve  comprised 
694,910  acres,  but  the  greater  part  has  been, 
at  different  times,  surrendered  by  the  Indians, 
and  thus  has  passed  out  of  their  hands.  The 


INTERIOR  CHURCH  OF  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD, 
OXONDAGA  RESERVATION. 

population,  according  to  a  recent  census,  is 
3,1)38,  and  includes  all  branches  of  the  confederacy. 
As  a  rule  the  Indians  of  this  reservation  are  indus 
trious  and  progressive,  and  are  engaged  in  agricul 
ture  and  other  pursuits  more  or  less  similar  to 
those  of  their  white  neighbors. 

On  the  Bay  of  Quinte  is  a  reserve  of  about  17,- 
000  acres,  occupied  mostly  by  Mohawk  Indians. 
The  population  of  the  reservation  is  about  1,200, 


44 

but  these  Mohawks  no  longer  belong  to  the  Six 
Nations  League  as  a  body. 

There  is  also  in  Canada  a  community  of  Oneidas 
who  came  from  the  vicinity  of  Oneida  Lake,  in 
New  York  State,  in  consequence  of  an  order  of  the 
United  States  Government  to  move  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  They  purchased  their  present 
reservation  with  money  brought  with  them  from 
the  United  States.  These  Indians  number  about 
800,  and  their  reservation  contains  about  4,000 
acres  of  land.  Another  community  is  the 
Indian  village  of  Caughnawaga.  In  1677  a  band 
of  Iroquois,  residing  at  that  time  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mohawk,  migrated  to  this  place  under  the  in 
fluence  of  Roman  Catholic  missionaries,  and  in 
1680  the  Seigniory  of  Sault  St.  Louis  was  set  apart 
by  grant  of  the  King  of  France  for  "the  conver 
sion,  instruction  and  subsistence  of  the  Iroquois," 
and  these  Indians  were  accordingly  removed  to 
that  place.  There  is  a  population  of  2,000  and  the 
reservation  includes  some  12,000  acres. 

The  Mohawk  Nation  is  represented  chieily  at 
the  present  time  by  the  Iroquois  of  St.  Regis, 
who  are  in  both  New  York  and  Canada,  and 
are  a  most  prosperous  and  industrious  commu 
nity.  They  at  one  time  formed  part  of  the 
Caughnawaga  band,  but  in  1760,  drunkenness 
having  been  quite  common  among  the  Indians  of 


45 

that  community,  a  priest  who  was  solicitous  for 
their  welfare,  prevailed  upon  a  portion  of  the  band 
"  to  remove  out  of  the  way  of  liquor/'  The  vil 
lage  was  named  Jean  Francis  Saint  Regis,  after  the 
French  ecclesiastic,  who  died  in  1G90.  The  Cana 
dian  reservation  is  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Law 
rence,  opposite  the  town  of  Cornwall,  and  has  an 
area  of  nearly  7,000  acres,  with  a  population  of 
about  1,300.  The  St.  Regis  are  famous  for  their 
fine  basket  work  and  for  their  skill  in  navigating 
the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  They  are  much  in 
demand  as  guides  for  tourists  and  as  hunters  in  the 
forests  surrounding.  The  St.  Regis  Indians  have 
comparatively  little  in  common  with  other  Indians 
of  the  ancient  Iroquois  confederacy.  The  St.  Regis 
community  includes  the  reservations  in  New  York 
State  and  Canada,  each  having  approximately  the 
same  population.  There  are  several  smaller  com 
munities  of  Indians  belonging  to  the  different 
nations  of  the  Iroquois  in  Canada,  the  total  num 
ber  of  Iroquois  Indians  numbering  about  8,500. 

Observation  and  the  facts  of  vital  statistics  go 
to  show  that  the  conditions  of  living  on  the  reser 
vations  of  New  York  State  at  the  present  time 
tend  rather,  to  the  increase  than  the  decrease  of 
the  Indian  population.  Indeed,  there  is  a  wide 
spread  error  in  regard  to  this  whole  subject  of  the 
supposed  "  dying  out"  of  the  aboriginal  peoples 


JOHN  Louis,  FAMOUS  PILOT  OF  THE  RICHELIEU  &  ONTARIO 

LINE  STEAMERS  THROUGH  THE  RAPIDS  OF 

THE  ST.  LAWRENCE. 


47 

of  America.  As  to  the  Iroquois,  at  least,  there  is 
good  reason  to  believe  that  their  numbers  at  the 
present  time  are  not  far  from  the  same  that  they 
were  two  or  three  centuries  ago.  Many  of  the 
causes  which  operated  to  the  decrease  of  the  Iro 
quois  at  the  beginning  of  the  19th  century  are,  to  a 
large  extent,  removed  at  the  beginning  of  the  20th, 
and  conditions  now  seem  to  favor  the  increase  of 
the  race  in  numbers  and  virility. 

The  Six  Nations  Indians  on  the  various  reserva 
tions  of  New  York  State  and  Canada  now  number 
about  1C, 000,  according  to  the  last  report  of  the 
U.  S.  Department  of  the  Interior.  The  same  re 
port  says:  "  It  can  be  stated  with  almost  a  cer 
tainty  that  the  League  of  the  Iroquois,  since  the 
advent  of  the  Europeans  on  the  American  Conti 
nent  up  to  1880,  never  exceeded  15,000  persons, 
and  it  never  had  an  available  fighting  force  of  more 
than  2,500  men."  Earlier  writers  give  the  num 
bers  of  the  Iroquois  in  former  times  in  much  larger 
figures.  A  statement  recently  made  by  the  U.  S. 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  affords  a  partial 
explanation  of  the  seeming  contradictions.  He 
says:  "  Upon  the  statute  books  and  in  modern 
discussions  of  these  races  the  names  of  many  tribes 
known  to  the  early  history  of  the  country  are  no 
ticeably  absent,  and  this  leads  to  the  popular  con 
clusion  that  the  Indian  is  fast  dying  out.  This  is 


48 


LONG  HOUSE,  CATTARAUUUS  RESERVATION. 

a  misconception  of  historical  data,  and  is  based 
largely  upon  the  hypotheses  that  the  country  now 
known  as  the  United  States  was,  on  the  advent  of 
Columbus,  populated  very  densely.  At  the  time 
of  the  discovery  of  America  the  explorers  from  the 
Old  World  were  prone  to  exaggerate  every  unusual 
occurrence  which  was  presented  to  them  in  the  un 
known  world  upon  which  they  had  landed,  the  few 
being  magnified  into  the  many,  and  the  dark  myste 
rious  forests  were  peopled  by  fancy  with  myriad 
hosts  of  red  men  guarding  the  secrets  to  untold 
mines  of  golden  wealth.  Lured  by  fanciful  imagin 
ings  and  heroic  tales,  the  hardy  warriors  of  the  age, 


49 


HOUSE  OF  GEORGE  PIERCE,  NEAR  LONG  HOUSE, 
CATTARAUGUS  RESERVATION. 

penetrating  these  sylvan  retreats  and  finding  not 
the  gold  they  sought,  glorified  their  prowess  by  the 
multiplicity  of  aborigines  they  met  and  conquered. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  domain  of  the 
United  States  is  of  vast  extent ;  that  the  aborig 
inal  inhabitants  rarely  lived  in  villages ;  that  the 
women  tilled  the  soil,  and  the  men  were  engaged 
in  almost  constant  strife  with  other  tribes,  and  ri 
val  bands  with  each  other  in  the  same  tribe.  Ag 
riculture  being  neglected,  or  pursued  only  by  the 
weaker  sex,  the  chase  principally  provided  for  life's 


50 


HOUSE  OF  DELOS  KETTLE,  NEAR  CATTARAUGUS  LONG  HUUSK. 
His  FAMILY  ARE  GROUPED  ON  THE  PORCH. 

urgent  necessities,  and  game  in  sufficient  quanti 
ties  to  support  a  large  population,  must  have  large 
ranges  of  land.  Hence,  taking  the  concurrent 
facts  of  history  and  experience  into  consideration 
it  can,  with  a  degree  of  confidence,  be  stated  that 
the  Indian  population  of  the  United  States  has 
been  very  little  diminished  from  the  days  of  Co 
lumbus,  Coronado,  Raleigh,  Capt.  John  Smith  arid 
other  early  explorers.  As  stated,  the  age  of  dis 
covery,  the  age  when  America  was  first  made 
known  to  the  civilized  world,  was  one  of  exagger 
ation.  The  early  colonists,  sprinkling  their  small 


51 

settlements  near  the  coast,  watching  the  tumbling 
waters  of  the  river  with  its  source  hidden  in  the 
great  beyond,  and  flowing  past  the  cabin,  seeing 
the  dusky  form  of  the  Indian  warrior  sending  his 
occasional  arrow  into  their  homes,  and  looking 
upon  the  dark  and  mighty  forests,  imagined  that 
the  vast  country  beyond  was  the  Empire  of  innu 
merable  savage  enemies  who  were  ready  to  dispute 
their  ownership  by  rights  of  discovery  and  occu 
pancy.  Early  accounts,  therefore,  of  the  number 
of  Indians  in  the  United  States  at  that  time  must 
be  taken  with  due  regard  to  the  credibility  of  the 
witnesses  presenting  the  same.  The  first  census 
of  the  Indians  was  made  by  the  General  Govern 
ment  in  1850.  Thomas  Jefferson,  however,  in  1782, 
made  two  lists  of  Indians  who,  at  that  time,  lived 
in  and  beyond  the  present  line  of  the  United 
States." 


DRAWN  BY  GAR-NOS  DR-YAN-OHT,  JESSE  CORNPLANTER, 
SEVEX  YEAR  OLD  SENECA  BOY. 


INTERIOR  OF  LONG  HOUSE,  CATTARAUGUS  EESERVATION. 

RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIAL  OF  THE 
IROQUOIS. 

"  And  David  danced  before  the  Lord  with  all  his  might  " 
II  Samuel,  VII,  14. 

The  religious  ceremonial  of  primitive  peoples 
always  contains  something  corresponding  to  what 
is  known  as  the  dance.  From  the  Biblical  text 
quoted  above,  it  would  seem  that  even  among  the 
Hebrews,  in  the  time  of  King  David,  dancing  occu 
pied  some  place  in  worship. 

The  American  Indian  has  always  been  especially 
attached  to  his  various  dances,  and  among  the  Six 
Nations  Indians  to-day  the  dance  holds  a  foremost 


53 

place  in  the  picturesque  and  often  beautiful  cere 
monial,  by  means  of  which  the  so-called  "  pagan" 
Iroquois  offer  their  thanksgivings  to  Ha-wen.ne-yu 
at  the  appointed  seasons.  The  red  man's  ideas  of 
worship  and  his  ideas  of  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the 
Universe  are  often  quite  different  from  those  of 
the  white  man,  and  that  too,  notwithstanding 
three  centuries  of  association  with  the  whites,  has 
somewhat  modified  the  ancient  customs  and  be 
liefs. 

Longfellow,  in  "  The  Song  of  Hiawatha,"  draws 
a  picture  of  how 

"Gitche  Manito,  the  Mighty, 
Smoked  the  Calumet,  the  Peace  Pipe, 
As  a  signal  to  the  Nations." 

To  the  mind  of  the  white  man,  trained  in  the 
school  of  20th  century  Christianity,  there  is  some 
thing  bordering  very  closely  on  the  irreverent  in  a 
picture  of  the  Creator  which  portrays  Him  as 
smoking  a  pipe.  It  is  not  so  with  the  red  man. 
The  burning  of  tobacco  has  a  place  of  high  honor 
among  the  ceremonies  of  the  American  Indians, 
particularly  among  those  of  the  Iroquois,  and 
smoking  the  Peace  Pipe  has  long  been  a  stately 
ceremony.  Therefore,  what  more  natural  than 
that  they  should  ascribe  to  Ila-wen-ne-yu,  the 
Master  of  Life,  attributes  and  habits  like  their 


54 

own,  in  this  as  in  other  respects.  Indeed,  the  Iro- 
quois  teaching  and  legendary  stories  regarding 
their  Supreme  Ruler  abound  in  pictures  of  the 
Creator  which  portray  Him  engaged  in  occupations 
similar  to  those  of  the  Indian.  So  that  it  is  in 
perfect  consonance  with  the  red  man's  ideas  of  di 
vinity  when  Longfellow  says  of  Gitche  Manito, 
the  Mighty,  that 

"From  the  red  stone  of  the  quarry 
With  his  hand  he  broke  a   fragment, 
Moulded  it  into  a  pipe-head, 
Shaped  and  fashioned  it  with  figures  ; 
From  the  margin  of    the  river 
Took  a  long  reed  for  a  pipe  stem, 
With  its  dark  green  leaves  upon  it ; 
Filled  the  pipe  with  bark  of    willow, 
With  the  bark  of    the  red  willow, 
Breathed  upon  the  neighboring  forest, 
Made  its  great  boughs  chafe  together, 
'Till  in  flame  they  burst  and  kindled." 

Tobacco  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  gifts  of  the 
Good  Creator,  and  in  the  religious  ceremonies  of 
the  Iroquois  it  is  burned  when  thanksgiving  to 
Ha-wen-ni'-yu  is  offered,  to  carry  the  message  to 
His  ears  and  make  the  thanksgiving  an  acceptable 
one. 

There  is  a  similarity  between  the  use  of  tobacco 
by  the  Iroquois  in  their  religious  ceremonies  and 


the  use  of  incense  by  many  Christians  in  offering 
"  the  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving."  But 
in  the  Christian  use  of  incense,  especially  in  its 
association  with  the  mass  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  there  is  an  idea  of  sacrifice  in  atonement 
for  sin,  the  mass  typifying  ''the  great  sacrifice 
once  offered  by  Christ  himself,"  while  with  the 
Iroquois  it  had  not  the  idea  of  atonement,  but  was 
simply  the  means  established  by  Ha-wen-n6-yu,  by 
which  the  faithful  and  virtuous  Indian  might  gain 
access  to  His  ear  and  an  answer  to  his  petition.  If 
the  Iroquois  who  are  called  "  pagan  "  had  a  short 
confession  of  faith,  it  might  read  something  like 
this  : 

"  When  II a  wen-ne-yu,  the  Master  of  Life,  the 
(rood  Creator,  made  the  Indian,  he  placed  him  in 
a  world  well  stocked  with  animals  which  he  might 
hunt,  and  fish  which  he  might  catch  for  food.  He 
gave  the  animals  also  that  their  skins  and  their 
fur  might  be  used  as  a  warm  covering  for  man's 
body.  He  gave  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  also  for 
food,  and  herbs  which  might  be  used  as  medicine 
to  cure  the  ills  of  man.  All  this  was  to  the  end 
that  man  might  live  happily  and  contentedly,  as 
he  should  do." 

It  is  difficult  for  the  white  man  to  understand 
the  Indian  or  comprehend  the  ideas  underlying 
his  character,  social  customs  or  religious  beliefs, 


because  the  red  man  is  a  child  of  Nature  and  the 
white  man,  in  becoming  civilized,  has  drifted  away 
from  Mother  Nature  in  many  respects,  and  is  not 
dependent  on  her  to  the  extent  that  his  brown- 
skinned  brother  is.  The  degree  to  which  Nature 
in  her  various  aspects  entered  into  the  life  and 
character  of  the  Iroquois  is  shown  especially  in 
the  religious  or  semi-religious  functions  performed 
at  stated  seasons  on  the  reservations  of  New  York 
and  Canada  to-day  by  the  so-called  Pagan  members 
of  the  various  tribes  or  "  nations  "  Longfellow 
describes  how  Hiawatha  in  his  childhood 

"Learned  of  every  bird  its  language, 
Learned  their  names  and  all  their  secrets  ; 
How  they  built  their  nests  in  Summer  ; 
Where  they  hid  themselves  in   Winter  ; 
Talked  with  them  where'er  he  met  them." 

The  picture  of  Hiawatha  is  a  typical  one.  Every 
Indian  boy  went  to  school  to  Mother  Nature,  and 
the  portrait  would  have  been  as  truthful  of  Hia 
watha,  whether  that  more  or  less  mythical  charac 
ter  was  an  0  jib  way,  as  Longfellow,  perhaps  for 
purposes  of  metre,  made  him,  or  lived  among  the 
Onondagas,  as  Iroquois  traditions  tell  us. 

I  have  spoken  of  tobacco  as  being  regarded  by 
the  Iroquois  as  among  the  best  of  the  gifts  of  Ha- 
wen-n6-yu,  of  its  ceremonial  use  in  connection 


57 

with  thanksgiving  to  the  Good  Creator,  at  various 
festivals,  especially  the  New  Year's  festival,  when 
the  ancient  ceremony  of  burning  the  white  dog 
was  performed.  But  the  Iroquois  were  especially 
grateful  to  Ha-wen-ne-yu  for  other  fruits  of  the 
ground,  chief  among  them  the  corn,  the  beans, 
and  the  squash,  and  their  ceremonial  points  to  the 
existence  of  a  more  or  less  distinct  belief  in  divin 
ities  subordinate  to  Ha-wen-nc-yu,  having  direct 
relation  to,  and  control  over,  these  products  of 
nature.  They  are  of  sufficient  importance  to  re 
ceive  especial  mention  in  the  thanksgiving  prayer 
or  chant  used  at  this  festival.  These  divinities,  if 
such  they  may  be  termed,  are  known  as  the  Three 
Sisters,  the  Spirit  of  Corn,  the  Spirit  of  Beans 
and  the  Spirit  of  Squashes.  The  sisters  were  pict 
ured  as  having  forms  of  great  beauty  and  wearing 
apparel  made  of  the  leaves  of  plants.  In  the  Iro 
quois  language  they  were  called  De-o-ha-ko,  Our 
Life  or  our  Supporters.  There  are  also,  according 
to  the  belief  of  the  Pagan  Iroquois,  other  spirit 
agents  of  Ha-wen-ne-yu,  charged  by  him  with  con 
trol  of  medicinal  plants  and  herbs,  of  trees  and 
shrubs,  rivers  and  streams,  and  of  many  other  ob 
jects  in  nature.  Chief  among  these  is  He-no,  the 
Thunderer,  whom  by  a  curious  association  of  ideas 
the  Iroquois  describe  as  their  grandfather.  He  re 
sembled  somewhat  the  Thor  of  the  Teutonic  my- 


58 

thology.  He  was  the  avenger  of  evil  deeds,  and 
was  charged  by  Ha-wen-ne-yu  also  with  producing 
the  showers  and  the  dew.  He  was  described  as 
wearing  the  costume  of  a  warrior,  and  as  having  a 
magical  feather  which  rendered  him  invulnerable 
against  the  attacks  of  Han-ne-go-ate-geh,  the  Evil 
Minded.  There  is  a  reminder  in  this  of  the  ideas 
of  the  Greeks  about  their  favorite  hero  Achilles, 
who  was  invulnerable,  except  in  his  heel.  As 
He- no  role  in  the  clouds  he  carried  a  basket  of 
rocks,  which  he  launched  at  evil  spirits  and  witch 
es  Invocations  to  He- no  in  the  Springtime  to 
water  the  seeds  planted  are  made,  and  at  Harvest 
time  Ha-wen-ne-yu  is  thanked  for  bestowing, 
through  He-no,  the  gift  of  rain.  According  to 
some  legends,  the  residence  of  He-no  was  under  the 
great  Falls  of  Niagara,  doubtless  in  what  the  guide 
books  now  call  the  Cave  of  the  Winds.  The  inva 
sion  of  Summer  tourists  has,  of  course,  long  since 
driven  him  from  this  retreat. 

The  religious  system  of  the  Iroquois  includes 
besides  the  belief  in  Ha-wen-ne-yu  and  his  numer 
ous  agents,  a  belief  in  the  Evil  Minded  one,  Ha-ne- 
go-ate-geh,  and  countless  okis,  or  demons,  whose 
work  is  to  circumvent  and  destroy  that  of  Ha-wen- 
ne-yu,  and  bring  evil  to  Indians  as  well  as  to  tempt 
them  from  virtuous  and  upright  lives.  Various 
customs  have  been  in  vogue  from  the  earliest 


CHIEF  RED  CLOUD,  OH-TGAE-YAH  KHT,  CAYUGA. 

Red  Cloud  was  guard  of  honor  to  King  Edward  VII  when,  as  Prince  of 
Wales,  he  visited  Canada  during  the  sixties.     He  has  been  present  at  most 
of  the  ceremonies  since  held  in  which  Canadian  I 
and  during  the  Pan-American  Exposition 
the  Six  Nations  Village. 


ian  Iroquois  have  participated, 
ccupied  one  of  the  cabins  of 


61 

times  to  oppose  these  evil  spirits  or  destroy  the 
effect  of  their  machinations. 

The  religious  ceremonial  of  the  Iroquois  is  based 
upon  the  many  aspects  of  the  varying  seasons. 
Generally  speaking,  this  has  always  been  so,  but 
both  ritual  and  teaching  experienced  many 
changes  in  consequence  of  the  reforms  introduced 
about  a  century  ago  by  the  Iroquois  prophet, 
Ga-ne-o-di-o,  as  the  name  is  spelled  in  the  dialect 
of  the  Senecas,  to  which  nation  Ga-ne-o-di-o, 
or  Handsome  Lake,  belonged.  The  ceremonial 
now  used  by  the  pagan  Iroquois,  and  the  system 
of  doctrine  and  code  of  ethics  taught  by  the 
"  keepers  of  the  faith  "  in  the  long  houses  to-day 
are  those  believed  to  have  been  authorized  by 
Handsome  Lake,  who  is  said  to  have  received  from 
Ila-wen-ne-yu  especial  instruction  as  to  the  re 
forms  needed  to  prevent  the  Iroquois  from  lapsing 
into  degeneracy  through  indulgence  in  vices 
learned  through  association  with  whites. 

There  is  a  possibility  of  comparison  between 
the  ecclesiastical  or  church  year  of  the  Christians 
and  the  regularly  recurring  religious  or  semi-re 
ligious  festivals  of  the  Iroquois  with  their  ritual, 
fitting  for  the  respective  seasons.  But  while  the 
Christian  year  commemorates  events  in  the  history 
of  Christianity,  or  the  life  of  its  founder,  or  em 
phasizes  doctrines  taught  by  the  Church,  the  In- 


62 

dian's  festivals  are  all  in  the  nature  of  thanksgiv 
ings  to  Ha-wen-ne  yu  for  the  benefits  conferred  at 
the  different  seasons,  here  again  the  red  man's 
strong  affection  for  the  things  of  nature  being 
manifest.  The  Indian  had  no  Sabbath,  but  the 
recurring  seasons  never  failed  to  remind  him  of 
the  goodness  of  Ha-wen-ce  yu,  and  in  the  various 
festivals  he  always  took  occasion  to  express  in  his 
own  way  his  gratitude.  At  the  present  day  upon 
the  various  reservations,  the  principal  festivals  are 
celebrated  with  apparently  undiminished  interest 
and  devotion  to  the  customs  of  the  fathers  and  the 
scenes  when  the  functions  are  in  progress,  while 
lacking,  perhaps,  some  of  the  spectacular  charac 
ter  they  possessed  when  the  Indians  lived  in  bark 
houses  and  wore  skins  and  furs,  still  possess  great 
picturesqueness. 

It  is  related  that  the  Four  Messengers  or  angels, 
through  whom  Ga-ne-o-di-o  is  said  to  have  re 
ceived  his  revelation  or  instructions  from  Ila- 
wen-Le-yu,  told  the  prophet  "  You  shall  worship 
Ha-wen-ne-yu  by  dancing  the  turtle  dance  at  the 
New  Moon  when  the  strawberry  ripens,  at  the 
New  Moon  of  the  green  corn  you  shall  give  a 
thanksgiving  dance.  In  the  mid-winter,  at  the 
New  Moon,  you  shall  give  another  thanksgiving 
dance.  You  shall  have  a  thanksgiving  at  the  New 
Moon  at  the  time  of  the  making  of  sugar.  You 


63 

shall  dance  at  the  Xew  Moon  of  planting  time  and 
pray  for  a  good  harvest.  You  shall  dance  at  the 
New  Moon  of  the  harvest  time,  and  give  thanks 
for  what  Ha- wen  ne-yu  has  given  you.  You  shall 
make  your  prayers  and  dance  in  the  forenoon,  for 
at  mid- day  Ha-wen-ne-yu  goes  to  rest  and  will  not 
hear  your  worship." 

The  principal  festivals  or  dances  here  mentioned 
continue  to  be  observed  by  the  Iroquois  upon  their 
various  reservations  with  as  much  regularity  as  the 
festivals  of  Christmas  and  Easter  are  observed  by 
the  Christian  Church.  An  important  festival  in 
addition  to  these  is  the  Six  Nations'  dance,  which 
is  held  in  the  early  autumn.  Although  these  fes 
tivals  are  referred  to  as  dances,  they  include,  as  I 
have  said,  much  beside  the  dancing,  the  ritual  for 
some  of  the  festivals  being  quite  elaborate  ;  and 
though  it  is  not  a  written  one,  the  details  of  the 
ceremonies  from  year  to  year  possess  remarkable 
similarity. 

There  is  much  misconception  as  to  these  dances 
of  the  Indian,  and  it  is  hard  for  the  average  per 
son  of  white  blood  and  Christian  belief  to  under 
stand  how  such  performances  can  have  to  do  with 
anything  deserving  to  be  called  religion.  Bear  in 
mind,  then,  that  thanksgiving  to  Ha-wen-r.u  yn 
and  to  the  subordinate  deities  to  whom  the 
Master  of  Life  delegates  His  power  over  aspects  of 


64 

nature  is  the  chief  part  in  the  worship  of  the  Iro- 
quois  Indian.  There  is  little  or  no  part  in  this 
worship  for  petitions  asking  forgiveness  for  sin, 
and,  so  far  as  his  ceremonial  is  concerned,  the  Iro- 
quois  Indian  does  not  seem  to  be  conscious  of 
commission  of  sin  in  the  sense  the  word  is  under 
stood  by  Christians.  Ha-wen-neyu,  according  to 
Iroquois  belief,  knew  that  the  Indian  could  not 
live  without  some  amusement,  so  he  instituted  the 
dance.  This  custom  of  the  Indian  is,  indeed, 
partly  an  act  of  worship.  Some  of  the  dances  are 
more  religious  functions  than  others.  But  the 
worship  of  the  Indian  is  of  so  different  a  character 
from  that  of  the  white  man  that  it  is  difficult 
rightly  to  draw  distinctions  of  this  kind.  Being 
entirely  a  worship  of  thanksgiving,  and  therefore 
of  a  cheerful  and  joyful  character,  there  is  not 
the  incongruity  in  the  introduction  of  the  dance 
as  a  part  of  the  ceremonies  that  there  might  be 
were  the  latter  composed  of  litanies  or  of  prayers 
to  the  Almighty,  such  as  are  offered  on  bended 
knees  in  Christian  Churches.  The  dancer  shows 
his  intense  enjoyment  of  the  exercise  and  his  good 
feeling  and  levity  by  gestures  and  laughter,  and 
emitting  at  certain  intervals  a  vigorous  whoop, 
either  individually  or  in  unison  with  others.  Yet 
while  amusement  enters  into  these  dances  in  greater 
or  less  degree,  some  of  them  have  an  aspect  of  no 


65 

little  dignity,  and  are  performed  with  considerable 
solemnity,  especially  by  the  old  men  and  old 
women,  who  always  take  part,  for  a  time,  in  such 
functions,  evidently  as  a  means  of  showing  their 
continued  loyalty  to  the  customs  and  beliefs  of 
their  ancestors.  To  the  members  of  the  younger 
generation  they  usually  leave  the  privilege  of 
adorning  themselves  in  fantastic  costumes  and 
dress  of  typical  Indian  character,  though  some 
times  one  sees  an  old  Indian  who  takes  pride  in 
wearing  the  peculiar  adornments  in  which  the  red 
man  has  delighted  since  times  long  before  the 
white  man  discovered  the  Continent,  and  usually 
there  are  in  the  procession  of  dancers  two  or  three 
aged  squaws,  beneath  whose  abbreviated  skirts  ap 
pear  the  trouser-like  coverings  for  the  legs,  the 
leggin,  embroidered  with  bead  work,  worn  by  the 
squaws  of  the  olden  time.  Another  point  should 
be  made  clear  in  regard  to  the  character  of  these 
dances,  namely,  the  fact  that  though  in  many  of 
them  women  take  part,  there  is  no  contact  be 
tween  the  different  sexes,  each  person  going  sepa 
rately  around  the  song  bench  in  single,  double  or 
triple  file,  as  the  case  may  be,  usually  the  men  in 
one  line,  the  women  in  another.  Therefore,  if 
any  point  as  to  morality  is  to  be  made,  as  between 
the  white  man's  dance  and  that  of  the  red  man,  it 
would  seem  that  the  latter  had  rather  the  best  end 


66 

of  the  argument.  No  doubt,  in  the  olden  time,  a 
great  deal  more  wild  and  barbaric  character  apper 
tained  to  these  exercises  than  is  now  customary, 
though  they  are  still  performed  with  much  aban 
don  and  vigorous  movement.  But  in  the  long 
houses  on  the  reservations  at  the  present  day  they 
are  entirely  innocent  and  harmless  diversions,  so 
far  as  they  are  merely  diversions  or  amusements, 
and  though  the  ancient  formulas  of  thankgiving 
to  Ha-wen-ne-yu  are  repeated,  and  the  time- 
honored  songs  or  chants  rendered  as  their  accom 
paniments,  or  in  the  intervals  of  the  dances,  it  is 
doubtless  true  that  they  are  losing,  gradually, 
the  pronounced  religious  or  allegorical  significance 
they  anciently  possessed,  and  their  gradual  aban 
donment  as  ceremonies  partaking  of  a  religious 
nature  is  sure  to  occur,  as  the  red  man's  religion 
loses  more  and  more  its  distinctive  character 
through  the  contact  of  the  Iroquois  Indian  with 
white  civilization. 


Six  NATIONS  VILLAGE,  PAN- AMERICAN  EXPOSITION, 
SHOWING  LOG  CABINS. 


NEW  YEAR'S  FESTIVAL  OR  DANCE. 

To  describe  all  the  ceremonies  of  these  various 
festivals  would  require  more  space  than  can  here 
be  given  to  the  subject.  Often  an  entire  week  is 
devoted  to  the  exercises  of  a  single  festival,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  give,  in  detail,  even  the  program 
for  one  such  occasion.  It  must  suffice  to  describe 
the  exercises  of  a  single  day.  The  New  Year's 
festival  or  dance  is  always  appointed  so  as  to  com 
mence  five  days  after  the  first  new  moon  in  Feb 
ruary,  this  being  the  only  festival  not  varied  to 
accommodate  circumstances.  The  interesting  cere 
mony  of  notifying  the  Indians  faithful  to  the  relig 
ious  traditions  of  their  ancestors  that  the  time  for 
observing  the  New  Year's  festival  was  at  hand  took 
place  as  usual  at  the  Long  House  on  the  Cattarau- 
gus  reservation  in  the  winter  of  1901,  the  appointed 
day  falling  on  Friday.  At  that  lime  the  announ 
cers,  two  in  number,  wearing  buffalo  robes  and 
masks  of  corn  husks,  and  carrying  corn  pounders, 
left  the  Long  House  for  their  customary  tour  among 
the  homes  of  the  pagan  residents  of  the  reserva 
tion.  On 'the  Thursday  following,  the  Big  Feather 
Dance,  which  is  a  dance  of  high  thanksgiving  to 
the  Good  Creator,  was  performed,  and  other  cere 
monies  which  accompany  it  were  observed.  The 


time  intervening  had  been  occupied  with  the  other 
customary  ceremonies  incident  to  that  festival. 
On  Thursday,  about  noon,  one  of  the  keepers  of 
the  faith,  addressing  the  people  assembled  in  the 
Long  House,  said  that  he  was  sorry  they  had  not 
begun  earlier  in  the  morning,  so  that  they  might 
end  the  ceremonies  at  noon,  as  it  had  been  ap 
pointed  ;  that  they  ought  not  to  be  kept  away  or 
delayed  by  work  during  this  period  of  thanksgiv 
ing.  He  then  rehearsed  the  reasons  for  this  gath 
ering,  and  told  of  the  things  to  be  done,  and  the 
appointed  way  for  doing  them.  This  address 
lasted  about  twenty  minutes.  Two  men,  seated 
astride  the  song  bench,  facing  each  other,  began 
to  play  the  turtle  rattles.  After  a  few  minutes, 
they  began  to  sing,  together,  accompanying  them 
selves  with  the  rattles.  The  dancers,  in  costume, 
walked  slowly  around  the  bench,  increasing  the 
movement  with  increasing  play  of  rattles,  ending 
the  dance  with  a  short  exclamation. 

This  was  repeated  many  times,  others  falling  in 
line,  those  in  costume  leading,  the  old  men  and 
women  following  in  order,  until  about  forty  men 
and  boys  were  in  line,  and  nearly  thirty  women 
and  girls.  The  women  and  girls  formed  an  inner 
circle  about  the  singers  ;  turtle  rattles  being  ex 
changed  for  horn  rattles  and  small  drums,  the 
men  formed  an  outer  circle  about  the  women. 


71 

Dancing,  with  very  short  pauses  between,  fol 
lowed  for  considerable  time.  The  Big  Feather 
Dance  was  formerly  at  this  festival  performed  in 
connection  with  the  sacrifice  of  the  white  dog, 
which  will  be  described  later.  The  latter  ancient 
ceremony,  the  subject  of  so  much  discussion  as  to 
its  origin  and  significance,  is  no  longer  carried 
out  on  the  reservations  of  New  York  State, 
though  it  still  survives  among  the  Canadian 
Indians  on  the  Grand  River  Reserve.  It  is  about 
twenty  years  since  it  was  discontinued  in  New  York 
State.  The  thanksgiving  address  or  chant  to  Ha- 
wen-ne-yu,  which  has  always  been  rendered  as  a 
leading  ceremony  of  this  festival,  was,  however, 
given  as  usual  upon  this  occasion.  The  Indian 
who  acted  as  officiating  keeper  of  the  faith  or 
Master  of  Rites  took  his  place  near  the  singers 
and  began  the  chant  in  the  Seneca  dialect,  a  free 
rendering  of  which  follows  : 

Brothers,  listen.  I  have  been  appointed  Master 
of  Rites  for  this  day.  This  is  the  time  appointed 
for  giving  thanks  to  the  Good  Creator  for  every 
thing  He  has  given  us,  now  that  the  people  are 
assembled. 

We  give  thanks  to  the  Good  Creator  for  every 
thing  He  has  given  us  to  enjoy.  May  it  still  re 
main  so. 


72 

We  give  thanks  to  the  Good  Creator  for  the  two 
supreme  beings,  man  and  woman,  and  the  purpose 
for  which  they  were  created,  to  have  children  and 
to  continue  to  people  the  earth. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  all  kinds  of  trees 
growing  here  on  earth  and  for  all  shrubs.  lie 
planted  all  these  for  the  use  of  man. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  all  plants  and  herbs 
upon  the  earth,  that  give  medicine  to  preserve  our 
bodies  and  cure  us  of  disease  inflicted  by  evil 
spirits. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  appointed 
seasons  of  cold  and  heat,  and  for  the  warm  climate, 
when  all  things  planted  are  made  to  ripen  for  the 
use  of  man. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  all  the  blessings  of 
the  children  creeping  upon  the  earth. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  animals  which 
are  made  to  live  to  be  for  the  food  of  man. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  rivers  and 
streams  which  run  upon  the  bosom  of  the  earth 
for  the  comfort  of  man. 


73 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  clouds  and  for 
the  rain,  sent  to  moisten  the  ground,  and  for  the 
dew,  and  for  the  thunder  that  rolls  above  us,  our 
grandfather. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  sun  which  Thou 
hast  made  to  give  light  to  man  by  day. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  moon,  our 
grandmother,  which  Thou  hast  made  to  give  light 
when  the  sun  has  gone  to  rest. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  sparkling  stars 
upon  the  heavens,  to  give  light  upon  the  children. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  Four  Messengers 
who  were  sent  to  instruct  us  and  watch  over  us  by 
day  and  by  night. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  the  Three  Sisters,  the 
main  supporters  of  our  lives. 

May  it  still  remain  so. 

We  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  all  things  upon  the 
earth  which  Thou  hast  created  for  the  use  and 
pleasure  of  man. 

May  it  still  remain  so  when  our  grandchildren 
are  here  in  our  place. 


74 

I  have  done  all  that  I  could  and  I  have  done  all 
that  was  appointed. 

There  is  considerable  difference  in  the  versions 
given  of  this  thanksgiving  chant  or  address,  both 
in  respect  to  the  arrangement  of  the  clauses  and 
the  language  used.  This  is  not  strange,  consider 
ing  that  the  Iroquois  ritual  is  not  a  written  one, 
and  for  that  reason  must  vary  in  minor  details 
each  time  it  is  rendered,  but  the  main  ideas  are 
the  same.  Between  each  of  these  stanzas,  it 
should  be  remembered,  the  dancing  is  continued, 
the  religious  significance  of  this  dance  being  in 
tensified  by  the  ideas  expressed  in  the  thanksgiv 
ing. 

It  will  occur  to  some  that  there  is  a  strong  re 
semblance  between  this  chant  and  the  venerable 
Christian  hymn  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  called 
the  "  Benedicite."  The  opening  stanzas  of  this 
anthem  are  : 

"  O  all  ye  works  of  the  Lord, 
Bless  ye  the  Lord,  praise  him  and  magnify  him  forever." 

Succeeding  stanzas  call  upon  the  sun,  the  moon, 
the  stars,  the  Summer  and  Winter,  the  fire  and 
heat,  the  dew  and  frost,  the  ice  and  snow,  the 
angels  of  the  Lord  and  all  the  children  of  men  to 
praise  him  and  magnify  him  forever. 


75 

The  idea  suggests  itself  whether  the  Indian  an 
them  has  any  relation  to  the  Christian  hymn,  the 
latter,  by  the  way,  far  antedating  in  origin  the 
Christian  era.  Though  the  Iroquois  obtained 
many  ideas  from  the  Jesuits,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
seek  for  such  an  origin  for  this  chant,  for  it  is  as 
sociated  with  a  ceremony,  that  of  the  burning  of 
the  white  dog,  long  antedating  the  Jesuit  era,  and 
the  chant  itself  expresses  the  ideas  of  thankful 
ness  to  Ha-wen-ne-yu  for  bounties  of  nature  which 
were  the  uppermost  ideas  of  the  worship  of  the 
Iroquois.  One  would  prefer  to  regard  the  similar 
ity  as  merely  another  coincidence  showing  how 
the  Creator  has  implanted  in  human  hearts,  the 
world  over,  the  same  instincts  of  gratitude  to  their 
Maker. 


GKOUP  OF  CHIEFS  AT  THE  GRAVE  OF  EED  JACKET. 


Chester  Lay, 
Solomon  O'Bail 

•(Grandson  of  Cornplanter), 
William  Nephew 
(Grandson  of  Black  Snake), 


George  Hemlock, 
Aleck  John, 
Albert  G.  Smith, 
John  Jacket 

(Grandson  of  Red  Jacket). 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  WHITE  DOG. 

The  burning  of  the  white  dog  is  a  strange  arid 
curious  ceremony.  Its  precise  significance  has 
long  been  a  matter  of  dispute.  How  much  or 
how  little  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  sacrifice 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  It  is  the  one  ceremony  of 
the  ancient  Iroquois  of  a  sacrificial  character  which 
has  survived  to  our  own  time.  Its  origin  takes  us 
back  into  a  pre-historic  era,  an  era  antedating  by 
several  centuries  the  so-called  "  revelation "  to 
Handsome  Lake,  upon  which  the  ritual  of  the 
pagan  Iroquois  of  to-day  is  based.  At  one  time  the 
custom,  of  feasting  upon  its  flesh,  as  that  of  a  sacred 
animal,  was  associated  with  the  sacrifice,  and  the 
ceremonies  of  the  burning  of  the  dog,  as  a  whole, 
were  anciently  so  peculiar  as  to  call  for  especial 
attention  from  the  early  explorers  and  missionaries 
who  made  records  of  their  observations  as  to  the 
habits  of  the  aborigines.  Although  we  are  unable  to 
fix  the  origin  of  the  ceremony  or  its  precise  signifi 
cance,  most  writers  agree  that  the  idea  of  atone 
ment  has  little,  if  anything,  to  do  with  the  burn 
ing  of  the  white  dog.  In  this  respect  it  is  alto 
gether  different  from  the  animal  sacrifices  offered 
by  most  heathen  peoples  in  the  Old  World,  both 


77 

in  ancient  and  modern  times.  The  theory  has 
been  advanced  that  the  ceremony  is  based  on  the 
idea  of  substitution,  and  dates  from  a  very  ancient 
time,  when,  perhaps,  the  master  was  burned  on  a 
funeral  pyre  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  sun,  the  dog 
being  burned  with  him,  and  gradually,  as  time 
passed  on,  being  sacrificed  in  place  of  his  master. 
Other  writers  see  in  the  ceremony  the  survival  of 
an  ancient  belief  connecting  the  new  year  with 
faith  in  personal  immortality,  the  color,  white, 
being  symbolic  of  light,  life  and  re-birth,  and  the 
dog  being  regarded  with  especial  fondness  by  the 
Indian,  and  being  given  in  some  respects  a  sacred 
character.  The  Canadian  Iroquois  have  preserved 
the  longest  the  usages  of  this  ancient  ceremony, 
and  in  the  report  of  the  Minister  of  Education  for 
the  Province  of  Ontario,  1898,  the  following  trans 
lation  is  given  of  the  opening  words  used  by  the 
Master  of  Rites  when  the  dog  has  been  killed, 
decorated,  and  placed  on  the  fire  ready  to  be 
burned  :  "  Great  Master,  behold  here  all  of  our 
people  who  hold  the  old  faith  and  intend  to  abide 
by  it.  By  means  of  this  dog  being  burned,  we 
hope  to  please  Thee,  and  that  just  as  we  have 
decked  it  with  ribbons  and  wampum,  Thou  wilt 
grant  favors  to  us  Thy  own  people. 

"  I  now  place  the  dog  on  the  fire  that  its  spirit 
may  find  its  way  to  Thee  who  made  it,  and  made 


78 

everything,  and  thus  we  hope  to  get  blessings  from 
Thee  in  return." 

The  details  of  the  white  dog  ceremony  are  nu 
merous,  and  the  observance  had  some  features  in 
former  times  which  have  been  modified  or  dropped 
altogether  in  recent  years.  It  is  customary  to 
deck  the  body  of  the  animal,  after  it  has  been 
killed  by  strangling,  with  ribbons  of  many  colors, 
with  feathers  and  with  wampum.  Tobacco  is 
burned  during  the  ceremony.  Speeches  or  chants 
are  made  over  the  dog,  the  people  joining  in  cer 
tain  portions  of  the  chants.  In  the  time  of  the 
historian,  Lewis  II.  Morgan,  the  body  of  the  dog 
was  borne  to  the  blazing  altar  upon  a  sort  of  bark 
litter,  behind  which  the  people  came  in  Indian 
file.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  quote  the  explana 
tion  of  the  ceremony  given  by  Morgan,  as  it  seems 
the  most  natural  and  plausible  advanced  by  any 
writer  on  this  much  debated  subject  : 

"The  burning  of  the  dog  had  not  the  slightest 
connection  with  the  sins  of  the  people.  On  the 
contrary,  the  simple  idea  of  the  sacrifice  was  to 
send  up  the  spirit  of  the  dog  as  a  messenger  to  the 
Great  Spirit  to  announce  their  continued  fidelity 
to  His  service,  and  also  to  convey  to  Him  their 
united  thanks  for  the  blessings  of  the  year.  The 
fidelity  of  the  dog,  the  companion  of  the  Indian, 
as  a  hunter,  was  emblematical  of  their  fidelity.  No 


79 

messenger  so  trusty  could  be  found  to  bear  their 
petitions  to  the  Master  of  Life.  The  Iroquois  be 
lieved  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  made  a  covenant 
with  their  fathers  to  the  effect  that  when  they 
should  send  up  to  Him  the  spirit  of  a  dog,  of  a 
spotless  white,  He  would  receive  it  as  the  pledge  of 
their  adherence  to  His  worship,  and  His  ears  would 
thus  be  opened  in  an  especial  manner  to  their  peti 
tions.  To  approach  Ha-wen-n6-yu  in  the  most 
acceptable  manner,  and  to  gain  attention  to  their 
thanksgiving  acknowledgments  and  supplications 
in  the  way  of  His  own  appointing,  was  the  end  and 
object  of  the  burning.  They  hung  around  his 
neck  a  string  of  white  wampum,  the  pledge  of 
their  faith.  They  believed  that  the  spirit  of  the 
dog  hovered  around  the  body  until  it  was  commit 
ted  to  the  flames,  when  it  ascended  into  the  pres 
ence  of  the  Great  Spirit,  itself  the  acknowledged 
evidence  of  their  fidelity,  and  bearing  also  to  Him 
the  united  thanks  and  supplications  of  the  people. 
This  sacrifice  was  the  most  solemn  and  impressive 
manner  of  drawing  near  to  the  Great  Spirit  known 
to  the  Iroquois.  They  used  the  spirit  of  the  dog 
in  precisely  the  same  manner  that  they  did  the  in 
cense  of  tobacco,  as  an  instrumentality  through 
which  to  commune  with  their  Maker.  This  sacri 
fice  was  their  highest  act  of  piety/' 


FOLK-LOKE  AND  BELIEFS  AS  TO 
FUTURE  STATE. 

The  American  Indians  have  always  been  fond  of 
preserving,  from  generation  to  generation  by  word 
of  mouth,  fabulous  tales  and  myths  of  their  di 
vinities  or  demi-gods.  Among  the  Iroquois  this 
was  a  strong  characteristic.  One  of  their  tales  was 
of  a  buffalo  of  such  huge  dimensions  that  he 
could  thresh  down  the  forest  in  his  march.  There 
are  other  tales  of  monster  mosquitos  which  thrust 
their  bills  through  the  bodies  of  their  victims  and 
drew  their  blood  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 
There  were  tales  of  a  race  of  stone  giants  who 
dwelt  in  the  far  North;  of  a  monster  bear,  more 
terrific  than  the  giant  buffalo  ;  of  lizards  more  de 
structive  even  than  the  serpent  who  could  paralyze 
by  a  look.  These  tales,  together  with  others,  in 
which  fact  was  embellished  with  fiction,  were  a 
part  of  the  belief  of  the  Iroquois,  entering  into 
their  daily  life,  and  explaining,  largely,  many  of 
their  customs.  These  fables  were  mainly  the  same, 
whether  told  in  the  dialect  of  the  Mohawk,  Onon- 
daga,  Oneida  or  Seneca.  They  were  rehearsed  for 
the  benefit  of  the  youths  and  maidens  at  the  fireside 


81 

in   the  village,   and  the  ledge  in  the  depth  of  the 
wilderness. 

The  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  life  in  the  hap 
py  hunting  grounds,  was  a  fixed  belief  of  the  Iro- 
quois.  With  it  is  now  taught  by  pagan  Iroquois 
belief  in  future  punishment,  though  how  much 
this  is  a  later  addition  to  the  primitive  faith  of  the 
Iroquois  is  a  matter  of  dispute.  When  Christian 
ity  swept  away  the  beliefs  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
and  Romans,  in  Zeus  and  Juno,  Hermes  and  Aph 
rodite,  and  of  the  later  Saxons  and  Teutons  in 
Woden  and  Thor,  many  heathen  customs  were 
adopted  by  the  church  which  were  not  deemed  in 
consistent  with  Christian  principle  and  practice. 
In  the  same  way  the  ancient  faith  of  the  Iroquois 
has  taken  up  and  absorbed  many  ideas  from  the 
faith  of  the  Christian  white  man,  and  thus,  though 
not  radically  changed,  it  is  a  paganism  tinctured 
more  or  less  strongly  with  Christianity.  This  is 
seen  especially  in  the  ideas  of  the  Pagan  Iroquois 
to-day  about  a  future  state.  The  immortality  of 
the  soul  and  a  belief  in  future  punishment  of  some 
kind  for  the  wicked  was,  it  is  believed,  always 
taught  among  the  Iroquois.  From  as  early  a  time 
as  we  can  obtain  any  knowledge,  they  have  believed 
that  the  wicked,  after  death,  pass  into  the  dark 
realm  of  Ha-ne-go-ate-geh.  The  teaching  of  the 
present  pagan  Iroquois  is  that  those  who  are  not 


82 

consumed  by  the  degree  of  punishment  inflicted 
are,  after  this  purification,  translated  to  the  abode 
of  Ha-wen-n6-yu.  Evil  deeds  in  the  present  life 
are  believed  to  be  neutralized  by  meritorious  acts. 
If  the  latter  overbalance,  the  spirit  passes  direct 
to  Ha-wen-nt'-yu-geh,  but  if  the  contrary,  it  goes 
to  Ha-nis-ha-6-no  geh,  the  abode  of  the  Evil 
Minded,  where  the  just  degree  of  punishment  is 
inflicted,  heinous  crimes,  such  as  witchcraft  and 
murder,  being  punished  everlastingly.  How  much 
the  present  form  of  this  belief  is  due  to  the  teach 
ing  of  the  Jesuits  it  would  be  impossible  to  say. 

Reverence  for  the  aged  was,  and  is,  a  character 
istic  of  the  Iroquois.  In  this  they  can,  at  the 
present  time,  furnish  an  example  to  white  people 
well  worthy  of  emulation.  The  respect  shown  by 
Indian  boys  and  girls  to  the  aged  compares  with 
the  behavior  toward  their  elders  of  many  white 
children,  rather  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  latter. 

This  respect  was  taught  by  the  law-givers  and 
prophets  of  the  Iroquois  as  a  part  of  their  relig 
ious  belief.  Hospitality  and  brotherhood  were 
also  regarded  as  among  the  cardinal  virtues. 

Respect  for  the  dead  was  another  marked  char 
acteristic  of  Iroquois  teaching  and  faith.  Burial 
customs  among  them  have  varied.  Burial  in  the 
sitting  position,  facing  the  East,  and  exposure  in 
trees  followed  by  interment  of  the  bones  after  de- 


83 

composition  of  the  flesh  had  been  completed,  were 
both  followed  at  different  times.  Sometimes  it 
was  customary  to  collect  these  skeletons  from  the 
whole  community  around  and  inter  them  in  a 
common  resting  place.  But  in  either  case,  there 
was  a  period  of  mourning  for  the  deceased,  and 
when  this  expired,  it  was  believed  the  spirit  had 
passed  to  the  abode  of  Ha-wen-ne-yu,  and  feasting 
and  rejoicing  succeeded.  In  ancient  times  a  beau 
tiful  custom  prevailed  of  capturing  a  bird  and 
freeing  it  to  waft  upward  the  spirit  of  the  departed. 
When  the  body  was  buried,  the  bow  and  arrows, 
pipes  and  tobacco  were  placed  beside  it,  and  also 
necessary  food,  as  it  was  supposed  nourishment  for 
the  body  would  be  required  during  the  journey. 
Placing  food  in  the  grave  is  still  the  custom  among 
the  pagan  Iroquois  of  the  Grand  River  reservation 
in  Canada,  though  it  appears  to  have  mostly  lapsed 
on  the  reservations  in  New  York  State,  as  has  the 
burning  of  the  white  dog.  The  face  was  painted 
and  the  best  apparel  the  dead  Indian  possessed 
was  put  upon  him.  To  these  customs  it  is  owing 
that  so  many  interesting  relics  are  found  in  Indian 
graves.  They  are  customs  which  are  found  among 
the  Iroquois  and  most  other  Indian  races  as  well. 
The  relics  of  the  Mound  Builders  indicate  that 
they,  too,  had  similar  beliefs. 


84 

The  Iroquois  Heaven  differed  in  many  ways  from 
that  of  other  Indian  tribes  less  intelligent  and 
spiritual  in  their  ideas  of  the  future.  The  abode 
of  Ha-wen-n6-yu  was  a  sinless  dwelling  place 
where  the  good  Indians  lived  amid  every  beautiful 
thing  that  the  simple  mind  of  the  Red  Man  could 
imagine.  Its  inhabitants  possessed  bodies  and  re 
membered  their  former  friends,  families  were  re 
united,  no  evil  could  enter,  and  the  festivities  in 
which  they  had  delighted  amid  the  forests  of  earth 
were  celebrated  eternally  in  the  presence  of  Ha- 
wen-ne-yu. 

Great  respect,  and  an  awe  amounting  almost  to 
worship,  have  always  been  felt  by  the  Indians  for 
the  Falls  of  Niagara,  the  thunder  of  whose  mighty 
cataract  spoke  to  them  of  a  mysterious  power  in 
some  way  greater  and  more  divine  than  nature  or 
man.  He-no,  the  Thunderer,  who,  as  stated  in  a 
previous  chapter,  was  believed  to  have  control,  under 
Ha-wen-ne-yu,  of  the  clouds  and  the  waters,the  rain 
and  the  snow,  dwelt  under  the  great  fall,  according 
to  the  simple  belief  of  the  red  men,  and  many  a 
legend,  in  which  He-no  figures,  is  associated  with  Ni 
agara's  roar.  One  legend  tells  of  how  the  god  carried 
off  a  dusky  but  beautiful  maiden  whose  father's 
lodge  was  at  Ga-u-gwa,  on  the  banks  of  Cayuga 
Creek,  near  what  is  now  La  Salle.  This  maiden 
was  very  despondent  because  of  her  betrothal  to 


85 

an  old  man  of  ugly  appearance  and  manners,  and 
as  there  was  no  escape,  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  tribe,  from  this  union,  she  determined  upon 
suicide  by  going  over  the  Falls,  a  remedy  for  in 
curable  ills  of  mind  and  body,  sought  by  many 
despondent  persons  since  her  time.  As  she  was 
going  over  the  brink  of  the  cataract  in  her  canoe, 
He-no  caught  her  in  a  blanket  and  carried  her,  with 
out  injury,  to  his  home  in  the  Cave  of  the  Winds. 
She  became  the  bride  of  one  of  his  assistant  thun- 
derers,  and  there  the  happy  couple  might  have 
been  living  yet,  in  their  watery  home,  but  that  a 
pestilence  afflicted  the  maiden's  people  which  the 
Thunder  God  knew  was  caused  by  a  serpent  that 
poisoned  the  water  they  drank.  She 
was  sent  by  He-no  to  tell  them  the 
secret  of  the  pestilence,  and  with 
He-no's  aid  the  horrible  snake  was 
killed,  but  the  body  of  the  monster 
drifted  down  the  river  and  dammed 
up  the  water  until  when  the  flood 
was  released,  a  portion  of  the  preci 
pice  was  broken  off,  and  the  home  of 
He-no  under  the  fall  was  destroyed. 
The  Thunder  God,  therefore,  went 
away  to  live  in  the  far-off  west, 
from  which  he  has  never  returned. 


One  of  the  most  famous  Indian  legends  con 
nected  with  the  Niagara  Cataract  is  that  of  the 
Maid  of  the  Mist.  According  to  this  beautiful 
legend  the  superstitious  Indians  who  dwelt  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  fall,  and  who  belonged  to  the 
Nenter  nation,  afterward  conquered  and  absorbed 
by  the  Iroquois,  were  accustomed  in  ancient 
times  to  make  an  annual  sacrifice  of  one  of  the 
comeliest  maidens  of  the  tribe.  She  was  chosen 
by  lot  from  among  those  eligible  for  the  honor,  for 
such  it  was  regarded.  At  the  appointed  time,  and 
after  the  performance  of  the  customary  ceremonies, 
she  was  placed  in  a  white  bark  canoe,  laden  with 
fruit  and  flowers,  and  set  adrift  in  the  rapids, 
which  carrried  her  swiftly  to  destruction  in  the 
cataract  below.  Upon  one  occasion  the  choice  fell 
upon  the  daughter  of  the  principal  chief,  who, 
true  to  Indian  stoicism,  made  no  protest  against 
his  daughter's  sacrifice.  But  as  her  canoe  shot 
into  the  rapids,  he  pushed  his  own  after  it  and  the 
two,  father  and  daughter,  perished  together.  The 
loss  of  the  chief  was  so  regretted  by  the  Indians 
that  the  custom  of  having  such  a  sacrifice  was 
abolished.  But  the  daughter's  form  was  often 
seen  thereafter  in  the  spray  of  the  fall,  and  hence 
arose  the  fancy  of  the  Maid  of  the  Mist. 


IN  AND  ABOUT  BUFFALO. 

At  first  thought  it  seems  hardly  possible  that  it 
is  but  a  little  more  than  one  hundred  years — a 
single  century — since  the  time  when  the  first  white 
settlement  in  Buffalo  was  made  and  the  Senecas 
were  the  sole  owners  of  and  dwellers  in  the  forests 
that  stood  on  the  present  site  of  the  city.  By 
each  successive  treaty,  at  Fort  Stanwix  in  1784, 
Buffalo  Creek  in  1788,  and  Geneseo  in  1797,  the 
Indian  title  to  lands  in  New  York  State  was  grad 
ually  lessened  until  only  the  Reservations,  embrac 
ing  338  square  miles,  remained.  Buffalo  Creek 
Reservation  was  the  largest,  containing  130  square 
miles,  and  title  to  much  of  this  land  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  whites  in  1826.  Finally,  in  1843-4, 
the  Indians  of  the  Buffalo  Creek  Reservation 
abandoned  their  home  of  more  than  half  a  century, 
their  gathering  place  for  two  centuries,  and  were 
scattered  about  on  various  reservations.  There 
remained  then  only  the  Seneca  Mission  Church 
and  the  old  burying  ground,  occupying  the  site  of 
an  ancient  Indian  fort,  and  there  rested  the  re 
mains  of  Red  Jacket,  Young  King,  Little  Billy, 
Tall  Peter,  Destroy  Town,  Captain  Pollard  and 
many  other  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Senecas. 

There,  too,  were  interred  the  remains  of  Mary 
Jemison,  "The  White  Woman."  The  Seneca 


Nation,  located  at  the  western  end  of  the  State, 
the  Long  House  of  the  League,  were  the  Keepers 
of  the  Western  Door,  and  as  such  were  known  as 
The  Watchmen.  So,  too,  Red  Jacket,  whose 
memory  has  been  perpetuated  as  that  of  one  of  the 
noblest  and  most  able  of  his  people,  was  known  as 
Sa-go-ye-wat-ha,  He  Keeps  Them  Awake,  and  by 
historians  has  been  called  ''The  Last  of  the 
Senecas,"  for  no  other  has  ever  arisen  to  take  the 
place  of  this  worideiiui  orator,  i;  whose  eloquence 
was  the  glory  of  his  people."  Born  about  1750, 
near  the  present  town  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  of  hnmble 
parentage,  Eed  Jacket  "owed  nothing  to  the 
advantages  of  illustrious  descent,"  and  it  is  as  an 
orator,  not  as  a  warrior,  that  he  won  his  fame. 
'*  I  am  an  orator.  I  was  born  an  orator  "  are  his 
own  characterizing  words. 

During  the  Revolution  he  acted  as  runner  or 
messenger  to  the  British  officers  along  the  Frontier, 
and  it  was  at  that  time  he  gained  his  English 
name.  One  of  the  officers  presented  him  with  a 
red  jacket  of  which  he  was  exceedingly  proud. 
Two  or  three  other  such  red  jackets,  successive 
gifts,  became  his  badge  of  distinction  and  gave  to 
him  the  name  by  which  he  will  ever  be  known. 
As  a  young  man  he  bore  the  name  of  0-te-ti-ani, 
Always  Ready. 

Although  lacking  in  physical  courage,  even  so 
much  as  to  incur  the  sneers  and  hatred  of  his  more 


MONUMENT  TO  BED  JACKET,  FOREST  LAWN  CEMETERY, 
ERECTED  BY  BUFFALO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


91 

warlike  contemporaries,  he  was  wonderfully  strong 
in  moral  courage ;  accused  of  being  more  friendly 
to  the  white  men  than  to  his  own  people,  no 
man  was  ever  more  loyal  to  his  nation,  more  solic 
itous  for  their  welfare,  more  keen  and  unrelenting 
in  his  efforts  to  meet  and  match  the  cunning  of  the 
men  who  would  take  from  his  people  their  lands 
and  their  birthright.  He  died  January  20,  1830, 
at  his  home  near  the  old  Seneca  Mission  House. 
His  speeches,  some  of  which,  happily,  have  been 
preserved,  are  his  most  enduring  monument.  Yet 
Red  Jacket  has  not  lacked  other  memorial  of 
bronze  and  marble.  The  Buffalo  Historical  So 
ciety  rescued  his  remains,  taken  from  the  old  cem 
etery  and  hidden  for  a  time,  and  in  1892,  with  ap 
propriate  exercises,  in  the  presence  of  his  blood 
descendants  and  his  people's  descendants  in  the 
ownership  of  their  lands,  dedicated  to  the  memory 
of  the  famous  orator  and  sachem  the  monument 
and  statue  which  stands  in  Forest  Lawn  near  the 
Delaware  Avenue  entrance.  In  the  same  plot, 
given  to  the  Society  by  the  Buffalo  City  Cemetery 
(Forest  Lawn),  were  placed  the  remains  of  the 
other  chiefs  named  above  as  buried  in  the  Indian 
Cemetery.  Here  also  are  the  remains  of  Gen.  Ely 
S.  Parker,  Do-ne-ho-ga-weh,  Secretary  to  Gen. 
Grant  during  the  Civil  War  and  of  Deerfoot,  Hot- 
tyo-so-do-no,  He  Peeks  In  The  Door,  the  famous 
runner.  The  medal  and  the  tomahawk  given  Red 


92 

Jacket  by  President  George  Washington  are  now 
in  the  possession  of  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society. 

As  Red  Jacket  was  first  among  his  people  as 
orator  and  counsellor,  so  Cornplanter  was  first  as 
warrior.  Cornplanter's  Indian  name  was  Gy-ant- 
wa-ka,  but  he  was  often  spoken  of  as  Captain 
O'Bail.  He  was  born  about  1732,  at  Conewangus 
on  the  Genesee  River.  His  father  was  John  Abeel, 
a  Dutch  trader  who  lived  at  Albany  and  his  mother 
an  Indian  woman,  probably  the  daughter  of  a 
sachem.  Ga-ne-o-di-yo,  Handsome  Lake,  and  Ta- 
wan-ne-ars,  Black  Snake,  were  his  half  brothers, 
all  three  being  Seneca  chiefs. 

Cornplanter  took  part  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War,  serving  with  the  French  ;  during  the  War  of 
the  Revolution  he  fought  with  the  British,  but 
after  1783  he  was  a  staunch  friend  of  the  United 
States,  and  at  the  time  of  the  War  of  1812,  al 
though  more  than  80  years  old,  he  offered  his  ser 
vices  to  the  United  States.  Though  not  called 
into  service,  he  sent  a  body  of  his  men  led  by  his 
own  son.  He  visited  and  addressed  President 
Washington  on  several  occasions,  and  was  sent  by 
the  President  in  1791  on  an  embassy  of  peace  and 
reconciliation  among  the  Indians  of  the  North 
west.  In  this  mission,  however,  he  was  unsuccess 
ful.  After  the  peace-treaty  of  1783,  in  his  services 
at  the  time  of  various  councils  and  treaty-makings 
and  especially  in  his  influence  over  the  Six  Nations, 


Js, 


94 

Cornplanter    proved    himself   the   friend   of    the 
United  States.     Cornplanter  earnestly  sought  the 


MARY  JKMISON,  THE  WHITE  WOMAN. 

friendship  of  the  United  States  and  because  of  his 
willingness  to  have  his  people  give  over  portions  of 
their  lands,  his  popularity  among  them  decreased. 


95 

Red  Jacket  was  not  slow  to  incite  this  feeling 
toward  Cornplanter,  and  in  turn  was  publicly  de 
nounced  by  Cornplanter.  Red  Jacket's  trial  was 
held  at  Buffalo  Creek,  and  after  he  had  spoken 
more  than  three  hours  in  defense  Red  Jacket  won 
the  victory.  Thereafter  Cornplanter  repaired  to 
his  land  on  the  Allegheny  River,  granted  him  in 
1790  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania. 
There  he  died  in  1836,  and  there  at  his  village, 
Jennesadaga,  stands  a  monument  to  his  memory, 
erected  by  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

Both  Red  Jacket  and  Cornplanter,  each  wise  in 
Ills  generation,  won  the  confidence  of  their  people, 
Red  Jacket  fiercely  opposing  the  whites,  Corn- 
plantei  adopting  conciliatory  measures. 

The  third  of  whom  I  write  in  this  brief  sketch 
is  The  White  Woman,  Mary  Jemison,  stolen  from 
her  home  by  the  Indians,  with  whom  she  after 
ward  lived,  married,  and  died.  She  was  born  on 
board  the  ship  William  and  Mary,  bound  for  Phil 
adelphia  in  1742-3,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Jane  (Erwin)  Jemison,  who  settled  on  Marsh  Creek 
in  Western  Pennsylvania.  In  1755,  together  with 
her  father,  mother  and  brothers  she  was  captured 
by  a  party  of  Shawnees.  Of  her  family  she  alone 
was  spared  and  was  taken  to  Ohio.  There  she  was 
formally  adopted  by  the  Indians  and  given  the 
name  Deh-he-wit-mis,  Pretty  Girl.  She  married 


96 

first  a  Delaware,  She-nin-jee,  who  died  soon  after 
they  removed  to  the  Genesee  Flats  in  1759.  She 
married  second  Hi-ok-a-too,  known  also  as  Gar- 
deau,  half-brother  to  Farmer's  brother.  At  the 
Big  Tree  Council  in  1797,  her  claim  to  land  was 
presented  by  Farmer's  brother.  Red  Jacket  op 
posed  her,  but  she  was  granted  a  rich  tract  of  nearly 
18,000  acres,  with  the  Genesee  River  running 
through  it,  known  as  the  Gardeau  Reservation. 
The  Senecas  sold  their  Genesee  Reservation  in 
1825,  leaving  Mary  Jemison  alone  among  the 
whites.  Accordingly  she  sold  her  land  and  in  1831 
removed  to  the  Buffalo  Reservation.  In  the  sum 
mer  of  1833  she  joined  the  Christians  under  the 
Rev.  Asher  Wright,  and  in  September  of  that  year 
died  at  the  age  of  ninety-one.  She  was  the  mother 
of  five  children.  In  1874  her  remains  were  re 
moved  from  the  old  Mission  Burying  Ground  by 
her  grandson,  Dr.  James  Shongo,  and  now  rest 
near  the  old  Indian  Council  House  on  the  grounds 
owned  by  the  Hon.  Wm.  P.  Letchworth,  near 
Portage,  where  her  grave  is  suitably  marked  by  a 
monument. 

For  extended  accounts  of  the  three  lives  here  so 
briefly  sketched  the  reader  is  referred  to  Stone's 
Life  and  Times  of  Red  Jacket,  the  Cornplanter 
Memorial  by  Snowden  and  the  Life  of  Mary  Jem 
ison  by  Seaver. 


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